The Feeling Called Love
by Lin101
Summary: When two hearts come closer, connect to each other, and become one then comes out the true colors of love. No matter what or how much the pain is, love heals it all. His dreams become hers and her dreams become his. Dedicated to all the TrainXEve fans. Rated K to be safe.
1. PROLOGUE: See You Later

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners.**

Summary: This scene takes place when Train decides to leave the group and live as a stray cat. [Please note that this is my version of looking at the incident with some additions and deletions] Please Review.

**Prologue**

It was the dead of the night, a soft wind blew in through the windows and the curtains ruffled. Eve shifted in her bed, unable to sleep. She slowly got up from her bed, tiptoed to her door and opened it silently. Sven was in his room sleeping. She stealthily crept into the living room. The room was dark and the only light that came in was the moonlight through the window. Train was sleeping on the couch. His breathing was light and there was no sound except for her trepidating heart. She quietly moved towards Train, and stared at him with her usual unreadable expression. _He's leaving tomorrow_, she thought. Her face remained as stoic as ever as she remained submerged in her thoughts.

_I guess it's time… _Her hands slowly reached for Train's neck. She was about to reach the collar when suddenly she felt a strong grasp on her hands.

"You should know Princess that I'm not Sven…" Train said with a grin. He went up and switched on the lights.

"So what are you doing at this hour, creeping up on me like that? I was scared you know." he pouted. Eve knew he was teasing. Her brow twitched but she quickly calmed herself, after all this would probably be the last time… She sighed.

Whoa, Princess that was quite a long sigh coming from you, anything wrong?" he enquired,worried that she was having one of her nightmares again that stopped her from sleeping. She quietly nodded her head replying _No_. "Then what did you want? Don't tell me you wanted to strangulate me or something?" He said in a false voice. This time Eve was not so considerate, she replied in her usual monotone, "I wish I could…" Train gasped. A small smile appeared on her face. She continued in her emotionless voice, "Relax. I just couldn't sleep, that's all." She paused; Train looked at her as if asking her to continue. "I was thinking about something, about that story that I read a few years ago. When you bell the bad cat it, it turns good… And I was thinking about that time when I tried to put that bell around you…" She pointed towards Train. He looked down at his neck and smiled, "Sure brings back memories…"

"You don't need it anymore…" Eve said knowingly. "It has served its purpose", she paused, and Train only looked at her in disbelief "You're a good cat now… you don't need it." Her voice was firm but Train felt as if he heard it quiver slightly at the last part. Her words were simple, but he felt there was more to her words than it seemed.

She slowly went up to him and her hands reached for the bell. Her hands were suddenly stopped by Train's. "Princess," he said gently, "I know what you're trying to say… It has actually served its purpose. But there's more to this bell than just that. It connects the cat to its master. To the people who care for him, to the people who are family. It is a symbol of the bond we share and I wouldn't let go of it at any cost, even if you came in your ultimate form asking me to take it off…" He grinned in his usual goofy grin and ruffled her hair affectionately.

Eve simply stared at him; Train couldn't decipher what was actually going on in her head so he said quite densely, "Goodnight Princess, go to bed now. Remember I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning."

She let out a small sigh as Train sweat dropped. Eve slowly walked away to her room. Strangely she fell asleep soon.

The next morning at about five in the morning, Train and Sven were up, they were busy with the last minute preparations. Sven was busy loading Train's bike with a carton full of milk bottles. He cried, "Hurry up, And Train don't daydream!" _Although its better if he stays I think, he doesn't need to go _he thought. "Shut up, Sven-daddy, it's not even day yet, I can't believe I'm up at five in the morning, even Eve would've fallen out of her chair right now in utmost shock!" he laughed.

He then remembered something; he slowly walked towards Eve's room. As he opened the door, he saw her sleeping peacefully, her golden hair framing her face beautifully and the early morning sunlight coming through her window gave her an angelic hue amongst her white bed and her white pinafore. She ruffled among her white blankets and Train smiled softly, he then leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Take care of yourself, Princess and Sven too, I'm counting on you. Goodbye." He then quietly closed the door behind him as she lay there peacefully on her bed.

_Vroom! Vroom!_ Train's motorcycle roared. He put on his goggles. "Well I must be off then. Goodbye, Sven-daddy. Don't be too possessive about Eve now that she's growing up. You know teenage…" he chuckled. Sven smirked, "Is that parenting advice coming from you Train?" Train laughed, "I asked Eve to take care of you too now that you're growing old…" He winked.

"**I AM NOT OLD! I AM JUST 30!**" Sven cried. "See you later, Old Man. Sorry, Partner!" Train cried as he rode off. Sven smiled, "Yeah, see you soon partner."

...to be continued.


	2. Chapter 1 Coming Back

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Calisto Byington was created out of my genuine imagination!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 1: COMING BACK…**

**Four Years Later **

A black bike roared in the city gates. A dark brown haired man got off his bike, took off his goggles and his cat-like eyes glowed in the sun. It was a hot afternoon, about three on his watch. He took out his Sweeper's License and held it out to the security personnel at the gates.

"Hmm, so you're Train Heartnet, a Sweeper. Well everything seems to be normal. Go ahead. Are you here on Sweeper business?"

Train grinned, "Oh no, officer, just returning home." His appearance hadn't changed much over the years; he still retained that boyish charm of his and his usual get-up of all black remained intact. He stopped at an inn where he thought he'd put up before he found Sven and Eve. Within an hour he was refreshed after taking a bath and chugging down few bottles of milk.

He then set out for a walk around the town. The sun had just started to go down, and he was walking atop a bridge; he was a bit tired and thought of watching the sunset standing there with his back reclining on the concrete railings and his arms folded around his chest. Suddenly something golden caught his eyes. His sharp eyes were quick to notice that it was a girl, about five feet five inches. Her golden hair reached to her waist. She was in a pleated blue-black checkered skirt, a white full-sleeved shirt and she had a dark blue jacket slung around her left arm. As she ran past Train, he caught a glimpse of her side face, her sharp features glowered in the sun and Train was really caught up in her appearance. She seemed to be about seventeen or eighteen when Train noticed her unusual magenta eyes. "Princess?" he let out awkwardly. But she didn't stop, she was chasing someone, it seemed.

Train went after her, _Boy she's fast. Probably it didn't go to waste after all… _He couldn't believe that he actually had to make an effort to find his 'Princess'. _Wait, his? _He brushed the thought aside and kept on running. Unfortunately, he had to stop at a dead end. _Shoot! I lost her _he thought. Suddenly he heard a noise atop a roof. _To my left_ He quickly climbed up a broken window sill and gradually reached the roof. By the time he reached the top, no one was there. He walked towards the edge and looked down. He smiled "Princess…"

Eve was standing with a wanted poster in her hand. She lifted her arm and held the poster in front of the man standing there before her. Train quickly jumped down as this man was falling on his blind spot. The man looked like any other ordinary man, working class, totally harmless.

Eve finally spoke, her voice as monotonous as ever, "Calisto Byington, I've come to arrest you on charges of murdering your wife and your six month old daughter. Also you've been acquitted of illegal drug dealing. Are you going to come with me willingly or I'd have to force you." Train thought, _never judge a book by its cover…_ The man didn't pay much attention to what she was saying neither did it seem that he was going to come with on his own will. Train quickly grabbed his Hades and there was a click of loading his gun. Eve ignored that and said, "Fine I got your answer." The man now aimed his gun at her. Eve let out a small smirk, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I hope you know that you're cornered. There's no way you can escape."

Train saw her hair was glowing. Her right arm quickly changed into a shield and her left into a gun. BAM! BAM! BAM! The man fired two rounds from his 9mm pistol. His bullets were blocked by her shield. He reloaded his gun and Train was ready to shoot. Eve stepped in; her hair was growing and getting closer to the ground. Her shield slowly returned to normal hand and she landed a punch on the criminal. Soon after she showered a lot of punches on him so that he could barely stand. He raised his gun to her head; she only looked at him blankly. Then suddenly she kicked the gun out of his hand and with her right leg tossed him into the air. Her hair was rooted onto the ground to provide support for her to hang mid-air and then while the man was still in the air Eve swiftly let go of the ground and was behind him and with one more kick on his spine he was down, looking half-dead.

"Pressure point." Eve replied knowingly at Train's astonished face. The entire episode did not take as much time as it took to write. It was finished in a matter of 20 seconds.

"20 seconds? You set a time limit to your sweeping?" Train asked as she was finishing up the paperwork at the police station. Eve nodded, "You've got to see who the competitor is, Train." For the first time since their meeting she smiled at him, though it did not last long and she went back to the papers. She addressed him, he knew and a tint appeared on his cheeks. _Was that a compliment?_ He thought. _Her transformation abilities have improved a whole lot. She doesn't even face the energy drain from earlier. Heck! She could easily compete with me now. She was agile, and strong, she could easily replace me as Sven's partner._

He thought of complimenting her on such drastic improvements, but then decided against it in case she lost her head, no matter how unlikely it seemed of her to do so. They were outside, walking again, Eve was leading the way while Train followed her.

"You've done a great job for all these years Eve," he sounded serious, she noted him call her by her real name, then he broke into his usual goofy grin, "But you'll always remain the Li'l Princess!" Eve had missed that smile for long, but she wouldn't admit that. She knew she had to be patient, had to be the mature one here since the one who was supposed to be so, wasn't. She continued walking; Train now increased his pace and was walking by her side. They were now walking towards the bridge where Train had met her earlier that day. His hands were folded behind his head and he had a smile plastered on his face while Eve was constantly looking at her watch. _Its five already…_ she sighed. Eve finally decided to speak, "What made you change your mind?" _Silence... _She waited patiently for an answer and continued to walk; Train pretended not to listen. Somehow he always had the insuppressible urge to annoy _his_ princess. _Not again!_

Eve stopped; realizing that the girl walking beside him was not there anymore, Train turned back to look that Eve was still standing on the middle of the bridge while he was already on the other side. He jogged backwards, "Is there anything wrong Princess?" he asked innocently. Eve had already seen through the façade but she didn't say anything.

"You didn't answer me." Eve was serious.

"About what Princess?" Train asked.

Eve calmly said, "What made you change your mind?"

"Oh that, well I was missing you both and I thought of checking up on you and Sven. Plus it'd be a great rejuvenating experience to come back home, after four whole years of hard work. Actually, I also wanted to see how you were doing, you know school and friends and everything…" He smiled.

Eve colored slightly. Train was quick to notice that but Eve was even quicker, "It's just the sun." She said seriously. They started walking again, but Train didn't want to believe what she said.

...to be continued.


	3. Chapter 2 Rivals

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 2: RIVALS**

"So Princess, were you bunking school? I mean you're still in your uniform but you're not carrying your usual books and stuff…" Train said.

Eve was now taking them on a sudden detour. Train realized that since they were now walking through the greener parts of the town, the remoter parts. Suddenly Eve was running and disappeared amongst the greenery; Train ran after her where he thought he saw her vanish into. They place was densely vegetated-from huge trees to small shrubs and bushes. He looked around but there was no trace of the blonde girl. He suddenly heard ruffling from the bush behind him and instinctively reached out for Hades.

As the creature struggled its way through the bushes, Train remained alert. When it finally came out Train sweat dropped to see that it was Eve. Her tie was stuffed into her shirt's pocket, and she held her satchel in her right hand.

"You hid it here?" Train cried, "What if somebody stole it?" Eve rolled her eyes, "They won't Train. Have you seen the place, it's practically a small forest! This is where I hide my things every time I'm out on sweeper business after school. As for your earlier question, I'm always out only after school is over. Even today, I was out of school as usual at three and I was on my way home, when I noticed the wanted notice. A prize of $45000 wasn't small-talk and I had run out of pocket money too…"

Train simply stared at her. Her hair shone in the darkness, although it was just dusk, the canopy made it seem darker. Her face had lost its baby fat and was now more mature, her sharp features were underscored in a silvery hue. The moon was just visible in the sky and he didn't even realize that they had already started walking out of the place.

Train shook his head, _what am I doing?_ He decided he had to keep his head from those thoughts and he already found a way out.

"Hey Princess! How long before we finally reach your place? I can't believe that Sven actually shifted houses four times in the same city! I wish only if you had stayed put in that old apartment, I wouldn't have had to follow you around like this…" He sighed. As he walked the little bell around his neck tinkled, Eve noticed it for the first time since their encounter, not that she'd not seen it earlier that day, but she now paid her attention to it. "You still have that? The leather's nearly come off and it's really old…" she asked as she pointed at it. Train looked at the bell and said, "Oh yeah… No matter how old it is, it's very precious. It reminds me of my bonds, you know… Bonds that I never wish to break or let go of…" His eyes glowed in the darkness as he spoke.

Eve blushed lightly; fortunately Train was too immersed in thoughts to notice that.

"I was wondering… How many friends do you have at school, Princess? I mean real friends… like Sven and _me..." _He hesitated a bit at the last part. Eve continued walking, "Two." She said in her usual monotone, "Ellene Kudo and Zine."

"That's it?" Train asked. Eve said, "You asked for my only real friends… They are the only ones that I even talk to; others are, well… distant." Train replied in an understanding voice, "No that's not what I meant, I mean your other friend, Zine, and it's just Zine? No surname?"

Eve sighed, "No. Just Zine. Plain and simple."

Train was back to his antics again, "Say Princess" he continued in a teasing voice, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Eve stopped dead in her tracks. Train realized that something was wrong. He reluctantly put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She quickly turned back to face him, "No Zine and Ellene like each other, their feelings are mutual. They won't admit that though. I find them strange sometimes, they constantly bicker at the slightest instances, but they care for each other the most."

Train had never seen her be so open with her thoughts before and was slightly taken aback but he quickly got a grip over himself. The moon now shone directly over their heads and it was giving her face a silvery hue, her porcelain skin seemed to reflect the moonlight perfectly and her magenta eyes shone in the dark. Train tried to shake off his thoughts again. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" He grinned. Eve knew exactly what he was pointing to, but she chose to act ignorant, "Huh?"

"Never mind, Princess. So do **you** like him?" Train enquired putting emphasis on the word you, but as he did so he hoped that she would answer in the negative. Was he becoming more and more like Sven? No this was something different. He forced back his mind into reality. Eve blinked for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. _That's new _Train thought. "What's so funny, Princess?" he asked with a smile on his face.

Suddenly a strange sadness crept into her eyes, they seemed dull and dark all of a sudden, "Nothing Train, and no I don't like him. But I'm like him though. He never met his parents. He's known himself to be an orphan from the very beginning. We're very good friends, best friends. I just wish that he finds all the happiness in the world; Sometimes I get frightened that I'd have probably ended up like him had Sven and you not taken me in that night. I just want to be his good friend and guide him through this darkness like I was guided by Sven and you. He studies at our school on scholarships. He's the school soccer team's forward. And well Ellene is also my best friend, my confidante. She lives with her mother who's a dentist. Her father passed away in an accident when she was three. Ellene is the school's karate club captain. Strange isn't it, that a staunch bookworm like me has such athletic friends." She laughed lightly.

Train knew that a deep sorrow was eating her heart now but she was trying to hide it with her smile.

Eve's voice broke his thoughts, "Well we must move on in life even though the past lives on with us. So Train hurry up and move your feet." She increased her pace and Train knew he had to follow. He decided to lighten the atmosphere with his cheesy talks once again.

"Soooo Princess," he pouted, Eve knew that he was back to his old self once again; she softly shook her head in despair. He continued in a teasing voice, "We are a family right? And family members share strong bonds between them. Now that Sven has officially adopted you, what kind of bond do you share with him?" Eve said in her emotionless voice, (guess it was not just Train who was back to being his usual self again) "What kind of a question is that? Of course a father-daughter bond!"

Train intentionally put the next question across, "And with me?" Eve turned back to face him, her eyes were burning with determination and in the depths of those magenta eyes Train saw a fire was starting up, "We Train," she seriously, "are Rivals!"

...to be continued.


	4. Chapter 3 The Moon Princess

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners.**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 3: The Moon Princess**

"Awww, Princess that was harsh…" Train pouted. He soon realized that he was standing in front of a beautiful cottage like house. What caught his attention was the Ivy that hung from the roof to the small garden in front. Eve realized that Train was staring at the rose bushes and those beautiful chrysanthemums, she said as she walked towards him, "Just a little hobby that I grew over the years… Provides me relaxation after a hard day. Well, let's go inside, Sven's probably worried."

Walking inside Train felt that a soothing homely atmosphere prevailed around, he felt a sudden tranquility take over his senses. He couldn't, rather wouldn't believe that Sven alone could do this. _Princess… _He thought.

Sven was inside the kitchen, he came out hearing the door open, wiping his hands on his apron, he said, "What took you so long Eve? Were you-" He stopped; an all too familiar face greeted him. "T-Train? You've come back?" was all that he could say, Train realized his old partner was getting emotional. "Yep, I'm back partner…" he grinned, "Looks like you earned quite a lot by sweeping over the last four years."

They had a loud dinner, after a long time, with Train narrating his myriad experiences and Sven adding some of theirs. They were talking about old days again. Eve was quiet all along, she occasionally replied with 'Hns' and nods.

"Looks like I've got to go Sven; it's already eleven by the clock now. They have probably closed by now…" Train said, as he gulped down the last piece of chicken.

"Where do you want to go at this hour and who are 'they'?" Sven asked. "Oh I put up at an inn before I set out to look for you and found Princess. My bags and my bike are still there. Moreover I even paid the rent. $4000 you know…"

"But you just arrived…" Sven reasoned. "I know Sven, but I couldn't possibly let the money go waste…" Train said knowingly. Sven seemed to be mad at him; he looked at Eve expecting her to say something. She finished the remaining food on her plate and simply got up from the table, washed her plate and walked out. The two men simply stared at her in surprise.

Sven rallied for a final effort, trying hard to suppress his anger, "Train…"

Train looked at him and sighed, "Fine I'll stay, and I couldn't offend the princess of course. But I won't sleep on the couch I'm telling you."

But in his mind he knew if Sven asked him to sleep out in the garden he wouldn't have been bothered, the atmosphere was so soothing.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, this house has three bedrooms, we were using it as a guest room, but now that you've come back, it's officially yours… Finally we can call this house our home…" Sven sighed.

Train smiled at him, "Well I'm going to the rooftop."

Train desperately wanted to try that Ivy branch to get to the rooftop. Once he reached there, he saw Eve was sitting there already. Her open hair fluttered softly around her as a light breeze blew. Her white nightdress shone in the moonlight; it was a perfect full moon night and her white skin had an angelic hue. _The Moon Princess, _Train thought. He noticed that her eyes glittered as she gazed intently at the sky.

He broke the silence, "Hey Princess, since when did you climb up on rooftops to stargaze?"

Eve remained silent for a while, "Just grew on me after you left. The rooftops were lonely and the stars were sad that their admirer was not there anymore. So I thought that I could probably erase their pain in my own way." she said. Train felt a faint blush creeping into his cheeks.

_Silence._

Train thought of starting a conversation now that the silence was getting awkward every minute because of the certain kind of thoughts arising in his mind.

"So Princess, after spending the whole day at school and then at sweeping, when do you find time for training?" He asked.

Eve smiled, and said, "At night. For example now." Train looked confused, "But doesn't Sven object—"

"He's fast asleep by then" she quickly interrupted. The next thing he knew she had jumped from the roof. Train was shocked, "Princess!" He cried.

He bent down to see clear blue water that sparkled in the silvery moonlight. "Whoa… This is beautiful..." He muttered under his breath. As soon as these words escaped his mouth, his eyes widened as he saw Eve in her mermaid form. Her blue coat shone in the silvery moonlight and the water droplets sparkled and danced around her as she rose out of the water. The big full moon in the background made it seem all that more like a dream. Eve seemed to be completely lost in her training, totally unaware of the pair of cat-eyes that were watching her in awe. Her transformations had undergone a huge change, they seemed more mature.

As Eve hurled sharp icicles towards the water in the lake, Train was drawn back to reality; the next scene he witnessed was that the waters froze in an instant. He gasped; only then Eve realized that Train was also there. "How'd you do that?" he asked in astonishment. Eve smiled a little, "I've brought about such transformations in my body that I can generate icicles of -196 degrees, the temperature of liquid nitrogen and so it happens to freeze anything that it hits." Train was surely overwhelmed with satisfaction that his Princess had really grown up. He leant down further to look at what she was doing, when suddenly his foot slipped, he lost his grip and he waited for the crash. But to his shock he saw beautiful white wings, these were very different from what he had seen before; they were more elaborate with tints of golden around the rims. Eve had him in her arms, cradled up in bridal style. They safely landed on the ground, Train was feeling insecure now, _Have I become that useless?_

Eve said seriously, "So how about a duel now, Train?"

...to be continued.


	5. Chapter 4 The Midnight Duel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners.**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 4: The Midnight Duel**

Train blankly stared at Eve; she continued, "We'll test our abilities through four rounds testing the four basic qualities needed for an excellent sweeper. Round 1 would comprise of the aim test. We'll be targeting targets of various ranges and sizes and even projectile targets. Round 2 will test the observation faculty. Round 3 for agility and speed and finally round 4 will be the final face-off, face to face combat. Ready?"

Train felt his blood was rising and he wanted to take the challenge seriously; "Fine, but I won't go easy on you, Princess." He said as he reached out for Hades. Eve was expecting this sudden change in personality, his eyes had that cold and dark look, the killer look of the Black Cat. She smiled _its working…_

Out of nowhere there appeared floating targets in the middle of the lake. "Eve, we'll set your time limit of 20 seconds, whoever finishes first with all the targets, wins." Train said firmly. Eve nodded in agreement.

Train was ready with Hades, Eve's right hand transformed into a gun. "Let's begin" Eve said.

The targets began moving at various speeds and in various directions. Both started firing, Eve had six down by then already Train was finished with eight in a matter of six seconds. The last two remaining targets seemed to have a brain of their own; they dived inside the water to avoid the bullets. Eve quickly jumped in the water, she had already transformed. Train noticed that these two targets moved like fishes and often jumped out of the water into the air and that was his only chance; his were quick to observe that he had only five seconds to actually hit the targets. He heard bullet sounds deep down in the water and saw bubbles rising. _Only one more left._ He thought.

"I **have** to get this one." He muttered. Soon enough the target was above the water and BAM! Train smiled, satisfied with the result. After a few seconds Eve was out of the water. "So you got the last one, I see." She said with a little disappointment. "Looks like I win Princess." Train said with a cold glare.

Eve remained quiet; her mind was analyzing something it seemed. Round 2 was won by Eve. They had to analyze the sudden changes in the environment. Train found it astounding that the place changed quite so frequently and with such detail.

In Round 3 they were being targeted by invisible attackers; the blows came from all directions and since this was a test of their speed, they had to be on a defensive stance. Soon Train found that the area surrounding them had turned into the ones like in military guerilla trainings. Eve was fast, she dodged all the attacks perfectly, without even a scratch or so on her. Train was even better, his nimble feet had carried him away from all danger, but he was tempted to strike one of the invisible attackers, even though they came out of the blue, Train noticed a pattern in their attacks and as he had assumed, it came from his northwest. BAM! Train had a look on his face that cried out _you mess with me and you're finished! _ His golden eyes glowed like the perfect pair of cat-eyes and his overall dark appearance, including his black clothes, seemed to herald the return of the Black Cat.

Eve cried, "Train, I thought I said that we are not supposed to attack!" Train noticed that the surrounding was back to the one he had seen before from the roof.

Eve continued, "Now time for the final battle, Train. I've been waiting for this moment all my life!"

Train now said teasingly, "Really Princess? I thought you always eagerly waited for the moment when Sven would take you as his partner…" He was back to his usual self, now that he had proved that after all he was the Black Cat. Eve ignored him, and Train noticed that the place was changing again. He finally decided to ask Eve about it, "Uh Princess, I've wanted to ask you this for a long time now, how come this place keeps on changing all the time?" Eve simply smiled.

Her hair started to grow longer and Train instinctively was ready with Hades in his hand. Her right hand transformed into a gun while her left into a shield. Train recognized it from earlier in the afternoon. He smirked, "Don't think the same trick would work on me princess, and I've already seen your moves earlier during your confrontation with that bounty."

Eve chose to remain silent.

The clock struck one in the night, Sven only turned in his sleep; he was dreaming about Eve being attacked by a black cat, literally.

Train looked around to see that the land was becoming a rough and rocky terrain, with absolutely no sign of vegetation that was earlier there. No obstacles to prevent them from clashing head-on.

Seeing Eve advance towards him with full force, he took a defensive stance at first; she fired two shots with burst bullets; Train defended himself with Hades. The bullets struck the Orichalcon with a clang and fell to the ground. Train was now running towards her, but Eve suddenly disappeared in front of his eyes, strangely he couldn't feel her presence anywhere on the ground, moreover there was actually no place to hide. Train scanned the area carefully when he suddenly felt a sword being held behind his back. Eve smiled, "Teleportation." She said. Train smirked; he held Hades in his left hand and flipped, BAM! He shot. Somehow Eve could read his every move; it seemed as if she knew what he was thinking. She was slightly off her balance as she tried to dodge the bullet, but quickly held her ground as she balanced herself with the help of her hair.

"Some fancy moves, eh Princess? Teleportation? Heard about it in superhero movies…" Train said mockingly. As they continued to fight Train felt it too, as if he could read her every move; even though he was fighting her for the first time after all these years, he felt he knew what she was thinking; he felt as if they connected with each other as they fought.

Eve rallied for a final effort wanting to finish this quickly; Train saw her form a fist and hold it in front of her facing the sky. He felt as if he'd seen that somewhere and had his guard up as he felt that Eve was up to something. Train tried to move his hand up to aim at Eve, but somehow he couldn't. He felt as if his whole body was bound by something and he could feel their grip tighten on him. Whatever it was, he couldn't see it. He winced a little as he felt breathlessness and Eve looked at him, expectantly. Train could now clearly see what had him bound together. "Wires?" he asked astonished and irritated at the same time. Eve smiled, "Well, that was a little trick that I picked up from number VII. You know, now that Rins and he are officially engaged, they come to visit often. Since I didn't have the privilege of having access to the precious metal Orichalcon, I modified the technique to suit my needs."

Train knew that he was completely helpless but to his surprise he saw that Hades was not bound by her. _Of Course! Hades could easily break through her metal wires, smart idea, but not that smart._ He thought. He aimed for her right calf, which was completely unguarded. Eve tightened her grip, as he struggled to break free, he quickly diverted her attention towards his helpless state and once that was done, he shot. The bullet grazed her right leg and she winced in pain as she felt the warm blood flow out on her skin. Train felt the grip loosen a little and took this opportunity to break free.

"Never lose your guard Princess, this was just a stage fight but in a real battle you could have been killed even if half of the battle was yours already." Train said, as he gave his hand to Eve who was now down at her feet. She glared at him, "You did that on purpose, isn't it? I could perfectly see that you had a perfect aim to shoot right through my leg break a few bones of mine, but you didn't. You don't have to take pity on me Train…" Train felt as if he heard her usual monotone quiver a little. He smiled and softly said, "I know you're strong Princess and that you can protect yourself and take care of yourself as well as the people close to you. When I did that, I didn't do it out of pity, it's just that I didn't want to hurt you…" he colored slightly, but still continued, "I must say Princess that I'm very impressed, the way you modified Jenos' technique to suit yourself was commendable. I was particularly impressed with the fact that you didn't waste your energy or your time to bind Hades also, since you knew that Hades could easily break free, being made of Orichalcon…" It was now Eve's turn to blush, she quietly stared at his eyes and found herself getting lost in their depths but she quickly got a grip over herself and now looked at him with despair and anguish in her eyes. "Now, now Princess, there's no need to look at me like that, I'd call this battle a tie. Let's go inside and get your wound treated and then get some sleep, because you've got school tomorrow remember?" Eve took his hand and said, "No Train, you beat me fair and square… I guess I still have a long way to go."

As she tried to stand up Train helped her and provided her support; she slung her left arm around his shoulders and he held her at her waist, as she limped off inside.

_Thank you, thank you very much for all that you've done for me Train. Even though you might not say it, I know that you left so that I could just fulfill my dreams, yeah, that was a big part of your decision to leave us back then; I knew that I could never be Sven's partner as long as someone as good as you was around, and you knew that too… Thank you Train and today's duel was just my small gift to lift up your spirits in return of all the favors that you've done to me. I know I can never be as good as you are Train, but I won't give up yet. You've always been my target; my ultimate goal was to reach __**you**__, to surpass __**you**__…_

...to be continued.


	6. Chapter 5 Back To Where He Belongs

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 5: Back To Where He Belongs**

The next morning when Train got up, it was ten already by the clock. As he opened the door of his room, he found a note plastered on it with some tape.

_Thank you very much Train. I really appreciate all that you've done for me. I've a surprise ready for you at the breakfast table. Well I got to go. _

_Princess_

He brightened up that instant and rushed for the kitchen. Sven was busy fiddling with the sink. He turned and looked up on hearing footsteps behind him, "Oh so you're up, I prepared some pancakes for breakfast today and there's a bottle of milk in the fridge."

Train grinned, "Oh thank you Sven-daddy. You're awfully kind today!"

Sven's brow twitched a little, "Hurry up and fix yourself we got to fetch your things from that inn and moreover we've got a big bounty to catch like the old days". He smiled and showed a poster, Train read it aloud, "Corbel Black, bounty of worth $100000 acquitted on the charges of secret espionage and leaking valuable government information and planning several bomb blasts all across the country."

"What about the Princess? Isn't she going with you?" Train asked apprehensively. Sven smiled, "No, she said she has some work at school, she set out early at six and left a note on my door." Sven held out a white piece of paper in front of him.

_I had to go early today, Sven. The school carnival is approaching soon in only three weeks' time and all the students are busy planning and preparing for it. Everyone is taking part and I'll remain quite busy now for these coming three weeks. I forgot to talk about it last night, so I'm leaving this note for you. Take Train with you for the sweeper business, I'm sure both of you'll like it, now that he's finally going back to where he belongs…_

_Eve _

Sven handed a package to him, "Eve asked me to give this to you… She said it was a gift for you." Train took the package, tore it open and found a black box inside. As he opened the box he saw a new bell with a shining new collar, similar to the one he already had on his neck. Inside he found a note, that read-

_For you, so that our bonds never break…_

Train felt a blush creep up his cheeks, _Princess_, he sighed.

Eve let out a big sigh as she pictured an over enthusiastic Train as soon as he found out the note and her surprise for him. Last night was quite an eventful one for her. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she remembered his words last night-

"_I know you're strong Princess and that you can protect yourself and take care of yourself as well as the people you care for. When I did that, I didn't do it out of pity, it's just that I didn't want to hurt you…"_

She then reminisced what he said last evening-

"… _Actually, I also wanted to see how you were doing, you know school and friends and everything…" _

Her friend Ellene, who was sitting beside her was busy deciding the background color of the carnival poster, looked at her friend getting all red-faced, much to her astonishment. "Eve, are you alright? I mean you face looks all red and flushed… Are you having a fever? Let me check." Reality dawned on Eve when she felt the sudden cold hand on her forehead.

"I'm perfectly alright Ellene. It's just…" She flushed again. _Darn!_ She thought _why is this becoming so hard?_

Ellene looked puzzled; her dark brown eyes were filled with concern for her friend. She was no doubt a pretty girl, her pitch black hair was tied in a ponytail which reached up to her shoulders.

All of a sudden Eve felt a hand ruffling her hair; she looked up at the boy with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. "Zine…" she muttered under her breath. The boy smiled at her, "What's up Vollified? Not happy to see me? I heard you slipped down the stairs and hurt your leg or is it some wound that you sustained on your sweeper business?" Eve lightly pressed on her wound. Ellene knitted her eyebrows, "Shhh… Don't talk so loudly about sweeping… Someone might hear you. And she actually fell down okay?And please stop calling her by her surname. She's not one of your soccer teammates you know… Can't you see that she's already upset? Don't trouble her more with your silly talks."

Zine stuck out his tongue at her and said, "I'll call her by whichever name I like. For example, Princess! Ha! See..." Ellene seemed to be annoyed. Eve startled as she heard the word 'Princess' Train's voice rang out in her head as he smiled and called _Princess_. Eve shook her head violently as she wanted to get his thoughts out of her head and both her friends noticed something was wrong with their usually unperturbed friend whose face remained as stoic as a stone even in the worst of situations.

Ellene asked quite concernedly, "Eve what's the matter? You can tell me you know…" Eve looked up at both of them and her eyes stopped at Zine and she felt a bit uneasy. Zine simply stared back at her. Ellene said in an irritated voice, "Can't you take a hint? Would kindly leave us girls alone for a while?" Zine looked offended, "Fine, who wants to listen to stupid girl talks anyway?" He found it awkward because it was a rare occasion that he had to leave the group like that. Although whenever it had happened before it was only because Ellene wanted to convey something confidential to Eve, but never the other way round; so he was quite surprised.

"Well everything has a first time I guess," he sighed.

As Train and Sven were walking out of the house ready to set out to catch their bounty, Train praised Sven for maintaining such a beautiful house. Sven said, "It'd never have been possible without Eve. The house is small, but it's due to her efforts that it feels like home you know…"

Train smiled, "Looks like I guessed it right. Well Sven, that small lake in your backyard is beautiful." Sven looked astonished, "Lake? What lake? We don't have any lakes around…" Train stood there looking at him, totally dumbstruck.

...to be continued.


	7. Chapter 6 Belling The Cat Again

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 6: Belling The Cat Again**

It was seven o' clock in the night when Train and Sven entered a restaurant, totally exhausted after the day's chase. Train sighed, "I can't believe there's no sign of him, we're in another city and still there's no bounty with us… I want milk!" He cried out for the waitress who was serving.

"It's you again!" She cried, "Long time no see. But I hope you'll pay, this time…" Train quickly cut in, "Don't worry we have some ready cash with us." As she took down their order Sven seemed to be awfully worried about something. He constantly checked his phone and looked at his watch. He said, "We've got to hurry, Train, eat up fast, we need to go back home, soon, Eve's all by herself, remember?"

Train cried, "What? If we return now we might lose the trail of that Corbel Black! Princess can take care of herself and why don't you ask Rinslet to stay back with her?" Sven nodded, "No, I can't do that, last time I heard, Rins was out on a government errand with Jenos; and that was four days ago…" Train sighed, "I guess, we've to go back then…"

They quietly had dinner with Train's usual complaining. Sven pensively looked at his watch, _it's eight already, we'll never make it on time! _ Suddenly Sven's phone went _Beep! Beep! _He quickly checked the message-

_I'll be staying over at Ellene's house tonight. You need not worry._

_Eve_

Sven smiled and said, "Guess we can continue to move after all Train. She's staying over at her friend's house tonight." Train beamed, "That's great, really the Princess has grown up to be one understanding girl, isn't it, Sven?" Sven gave a contended smile and said, "Yeah, and I'm proud that she's my daughter…"

Train happily ordered another plate of chicken and some bread and to add to it ten bottles of milk. Sven sighed, "I'll be broke by the time we step out of this place." Train was eating happily, when his eyes suddenly stopped at the window, through which he could see the clear night sky; the stars were shining brightly and the moon was high up in the sky. He suddenly remembered last night. Sven noticed that Train had stopped eating and was staring out the window. He didn't want to disturb his thoughts and so he quietly continued to smoke, thinking about the shortest route they could take next.

Train, however, was lost somewhere else.

"… _The rooftops were lonely and the stars were sad that their admirer was not there anymore. So I thought that I could probably erase their pain in my own way."_

He smiled to himself. His eyes then fell on the lump in his pocket and remembered the black box, which he received earlier that day. He was carrying it with him; he slowly opened it again-

_For you, so that our bonds never break…_

"Why don't you wear it?" Sven said. Train's thoughts were broken by his voice. He looked up and nodded; then smiled and said, "It wouldn't be the same…" Sven looked at him with confusion in his eyes and then sighed, "Never mind that, come on, it's getting late already. We **have** to catch him."

When they finally got back home, it was four in the morning. Train slumped down on the couch. Sven dragged himself to his room, "I'm going to sleep…" he muttered.

Eve returned home early that morning. At about six, she was standing in front of their doorstep. She sighed, "They're back…" as she tried to unlock the front door only to find it open. As she got inside she looked around to see if anyone was there, _they're probably sleeping… _She thought as she found nobody in the living room. She slowly moved towards her room, she didn't want to wake them up, and she herself needed some sleep; staying up the whole night, working and talking, made her feel tired. It was a Sunday anyway, so it wouldn't do any harm to sleep late till the afternoon.

As she passed Train's room, she was curious and stopped to listen. Strangely she found it awfully quiet. She was so lost in pinning her ear to his door that she didn't notice that he was standing right behind her.

"Princess?" Train asked. She startled at his voice. Train noticed she was still in her school uniform, she spoke suddenly, "I thought you were sleeping." she tried hard to hide her embarrassment on being caught red-handed, spying on him. "No one was there in the living room, so I thought that you were probably in your rooms, sleeping." Train scratched his head, "Well I was in the kitchen…" For some reason Eve didn't want to ask what he was doing there. She suddenly felt a tug from him. He now took her by the wrist and was pulling her to the living room. As she sat down, Train took out the black box and showed it to her. "It's for you, didn't you like it?" she asked apprehensively. "I thought that one was quite old and you needed a new one, I asked Sven to give it to you…" It was getting more and more uncomfortable for her in there. Train took off his old collar and handed out the new one to Eve.

"Tie it." He said. Eve looked up at him in surprise and much to her chagrin, he smiled. _Why's he making this more difficult? _She thought. She felt all her blood rise to her face and fumbled, "M-Me?"

Train nodded, "Of course! It was you who made the attempt that time." Eve quickly replied "But you refused when I tried to put it around… Remember? You tied it yourself that time…" she desperately wanted to avoid the embarrassment of tying a bell around his neck. He said, "But this time it's different, I'm asking you to do it, now." He winked. Eve felt all her arteries and veins would burst with the huge amount of blood flowing through them. Wanting to quickly get over with it, she took the bell from his hand and hesitated for a bit. She looked up to see Train was smiling at her. She reluctantly reached out towards him to tie the bell around his neck. She leaned in towards him, all the while maintaining a safe distance between them. As Train felt her get closer, his heart skipped a few beats; he felt as if he was getting intoxicated as he breathed in her sweet smell. Eve quickly tied it around his neck and moved back.

She quickly rushed towards her room, without even looking back for once. Train slumped down on the couch again; he smiled as he ruffled his own hair.

...to be continued.


	8. Chapter 7 Memories

Author's Note: Thank you CrazyFool65 for you reviews and the guests who've read this story and liked. Looks like I finished this one quicker than I thought! This is the seventh chapter; I'll be busy collecting materials for the next chapter so chapter 8 may take a while. Thank you again.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. **

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 7: Memories**

Eve closed the door behind her and bolted it as she tried to control her rising heartbeat. She swore she'd never have tied the bell had she been asked in broad daylight and when she was in all her senses. She blamed it on her exhaustion and slumped down on her bed as she tried to get over what happened, soon she fell asleep.

But for some reason, she kept on seeing the same scene again and again in her dreams. She wasn't forgetting it anytime soon…

When she finally got up, it was lunch time already. Train sitting at the table, while Sven was laying out the dishes. Sven smiled, "So you're up Eve, I prepared some curry rice that you like so much..."

They were eating, when Train remembered something, his mouth was full as he spoke, "Prrinceshh, Shvenn shhaid dere wazsh nho lhake arand-"

Sven cut in, "Finish the food in your mouth Train, I couldn't get a single word of what you said." But he had said enough for Eve to understand, she simply glared at Train, asking him not to continue with whatever he was saying. Train took the cue and changed the topic, "I was saying that Sven said the dairies here are very good…" Train sweat dropped as Eve's brow twitched. Sven said, "When did I say that? I don't remember…" Train then drifted the conversation to Rinslet; her engagement to Jenos and her present whereabouts.

Train sighed gloomily as he looked out of the window. The sky was completely shrouded in dark clouds; and he exclaimed frustratingly, "Why does it need to rain now? We could've watched the beautiful sunset at this time… Darn!"

Soon there was lightning and thunder; Sven noticed that Train was huddling into the couch as the sounds of lightning became louder. Soon it was pouring heavily.

Sven thought of going into his room and take a nap, since it was quite a lazy day and he was still feeling quite exhausted. "Train, instead of wrinkling the couch like that, why don't you go and lie down on your bed?" he asked. Train nodded. Sven knew that he was not fond of the rain at all.

Soon Sven was snoring in his room. A little while later, Train got up to fetch a milk bottle from the fridge; the solution to all his problems was a few bottles of milk. As he moved about the kitchen, he looked at the window to find Eve out there in the backyard. It was still raining heavily and Train hesitated to go out; but somehow his instincts told him that he should and soon he found himself out in the backyard. He had an umbrella with him, since he found the idea of getting all wet in the rain very revolting. What he saw made him go into thinking mode. _The Princess is actually enjoying the rain? Wait, What? _ He stood there mesmerised, as he watched her get all drenched in the rain.

He could hear a faint melody; as he moved in closer, he could hear her voice clearly. _She's singing! And it's actually a happy tune!_ He thought.

Train moved in closer, to catch her words clearly, because the splatter of the rain was nearly stifling her soft voice.

Train's umbrella was blown away and he found himself drenched completely in a matter of few seconds. Eve was very embarrassed now that she realized the presence of an outsider in her musical conversation with the rain. Train tried to handle the situation from getting more awkward. He stuttered, "I-uh Princess I didn't know that you liked the rain so much…" Eve was too mortified to even give a proper answer; she gave a slight nod and quickly went inside to avoid any further question.

When the rain finally stopped it was six in the evening. The sky was now free of any trace of cloud. Train sighed in relief, "Thank goodness it stopped." Sven smiled at him and said "Good to hear that you're relieved. Well there's nothing left in the fridge; so I guess we'll have to eat out today. On our way back I'll pick up some groceries. Eve asked to bring something for her, said she couldn't come, had many things to get over with."

"Achhooo!" Eve sneezed in her room. She was busy cutting out designs for the decorations. Also, she had a load of homework and projects piled up on her study table. She heard a knock on her door, "Princess? Could you spare me a minute?" It was Train. Eve looked around pensively, when her eyes confirmed that it was alright to let him in, she said firmly, "Come inside Train."

Train slowly closed the door behind him as he entered her room. Train sat down on her bed as she turned her rotating chair to now face him. Train cleared his throat and said, "I've wanted to ask you something, Princess, but every time you just kept on evading it. Now that there are no distractions, please don't try to change the subject or divert my attention towards something else." He let out a sigh and continued, "Okay, I've been noticing this for quite a while now, first time on the night when we were at the rooftop; all throughout our fight I noticed that the surroundings changed to suit our battle needs. The lake I was so mesmerized about doesn't exist; heck Sven told me there were no lakes around within the radius of fifty kilometers. So would you care to explain things a bit, for I _**know **_that you have the answers to all my questions?"

Eve had a defeated look on her face and sighed. She said, "Guess I've to let my little secret out… Remember the Eden Project, Train?" Train looked shocked, _how could I forget that? _He nodded. Eve continued, "The Nano machine rain was supposed to manipulate the thoughts of the victim, remember? Well I just took advantage of the fact to create the same effect on nonliving things with some help from Dr. Tearju. It is a much controlled and mellowed effect that you saw; I've been using it for the past three years to enhance my abilities, in real-life battle situations, so that it just did not remain confined to the typical training ground. I've learnt something over all these years Train, you cannot move ahead in life if you don't overcome your fears, because somewhere down the line you've to face it…" She seemed to be impressed with her explanation and her entire efforts altogether. Train, however, frowned, "Princess, how can you mess with something as dangerous as that even after all that happened four years ago? Have you forgotten how many sacrifices were made and the efforts we had to put in to stop that horrendous technology?" Eve said calmly, "I know you're concerned Train, but I swear, I took the Dr. Tearju's advice before I finally did it. Moreover she was there with me all along while I was at it. I've finally mastered it to such an extent that no one, not even that crazy doctor could find any flaw in it to use it to his advantage!"

Train said, "Whatever you say Princess… But you're not going to use it anymore! That's a forbidden technology for God's sake!" This time his voice grew a bit loud, but he quickly calmed himself and continued, "I think you should inform Sven about it; he's your father after all." He was not satisfied at all with her explanation; he still found the whole thing as dangerous as ever. Eve wanted to say something in her defense, but the look in his eyes barred her to do so.

Train left her room soon after. Eve went back to her work again. Soon she heard the front door open and close, _they're leaving…_ she thought.

When they returned, after dinner, it was eleven in the night. Train went up to the roof to have a quiet time with himself, he was expecting Eve to be there too, but when he reached atop she was not there. Disappointed, he quietly lay down and closed his eyes. The sky was clear and the stars dazzled, but there was no moon in the sky.

As Train opened his eyes again, after about what seemed a quarter of an hour, he saw a familiar silhouette by his side as she stared back at the moon.

_Saya…_

Her white yutaka flowed in the air and she brushed aside a few stray strands of her dark hair behind her ears.

"_Fall down, fall down, falls the rain…_

_My, my, won't we play…"_

She was singing that same song from that day. She stopped abruptly and smiled, _"Finders keepers." _She said. Soon she had drunk up the bottle of milk that was there. Train didn't remember bringing any bottle of milk up there, he's attention drifted to her back again as she spoke. _"There's nothing quite like milk, after a song. You know if you sit out here, all still like you're doing, then the crows will come and peck right through your head. So you're just out here moon gazing, huh? Just you and your kitty…"_ she said. Suddenly she got so hyper on realizing that she actually had drunk the milk which he had brought for the 'invisible' cat. Train was so engrossed in his confusing thoughts that he couldn't speak a thing. He simply stared at her. _"…You better count your lucky stars while out here that I showed up to keep the crows from pecking at your head."_ Strangely he remained quiet; the words seemed to have gotten lost somewhere. So many things that he wanted to ask her, to talk about, but it seemed as if he lost his voice all of a sudden.

She laughed, _"Don't tell me you think you're too cool to talk to me. Considering that the only friend you seem to have, is a hungry cat…"_ Train wanted to speak, his urge to talk to her was getting stronger, but somehow he felt he was being gagged. He could see Saya talking to him, but she didn't notice the uneasiness that was very evident on his face.

"…_Yeah, check this out; I may not look like it, but I'm a sweeper…"_ she went on. Train tried and tried again but he just couldn't speak. Slowly she started fading; her presence grew weaker and weaker by the second. Soon she disappeared completely and he only heard her stifled laughter; soon that was gone too.

Train cried out, "Please, Saya! Wait! Don't… don't go!" as a cold wind blew across, he muttered under his breath, "Was that just a dream that I saw with open eyes? Was she just another realization of my memories? " She felt so real, just like that day when he first saw her on one of those rooftops.

After a while Train came down and walked towards his room; the corridor that led to their rooms was pitch dark, but his cat-eyes glowed in the dark and he moved quite easily. The only light visible was coming from underneath the door of Eve's room. Train looked at his watch; it was already an hour past midnight.

...to be continued.


	9. Chapter 8 Love is painful

**Author's note:** Thank you guys for all the reviews. I know I've taken a lot of time to come up with something as crappy as this... I'm sorry if the age difference between Train and Eve is disturbing. I shouldn't have started with them in the first place.. But Hey! I like them the way they are and I'm writing what I wanted to happen in the manga (well, almost)... Sorry for being selfish there, but I just can't help it!I'm sorry if the last chapter's ending seemed ambiguous,actually the chapters are connected; I hope to clear a part of the ambiguity in this chapter. The remaining unrevealed things will be revealed in the coming chapters. I would request you to be a little patient. Thank you for following and adding this to your favorites... although I still don't quite know how well this will go down with the readers.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 8: Love is… painful.**

It was recess at the school, and Eve was looking out of the window, her bento lay untouched. Her stoic face hardly gave out the turmoil that was raging inside her.

"_Please, Saya! Wait! Don't…"_

She sighed as his voice played over and over again in her mind. Ellene, who was sitting next to her, looked concerned, "What's the matter, Eve? You didn't tell me anything even on that day… I'm worried about you, Eve. We're best friends, right?"

Eve nodded absentmindedly. The bell rang and brought her back to reality. English class, the teacher, Miss Lily Kurosawa came in soon after.

After the formal greeting, she started scribbling something on the blackboard.

As she turned to face the class, she smiled and said, "Now class, I hope all of you are familiar with this name…" she said as moved to her left, to let the students see the writing-

"WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE"

The class read aloud. Miss Kurosawa continued, "All of you've heard about Romeo and Juliet, I suppose?" The boys let out a sigh of despair, while the girls seemed excited. Miss Kurosawa continued with her speech, "Today we'll be reading one of the lesser popular romantic plays of Sir William Shakespeare; The Twelfth Night."

The class was silent at first and then started the whisperings and exchange of glances. Miss Kurosawa asked them to stop raising her hand, "Class, class, please be quiet. Now I want to make the lesson interesting; so please cooperate. So to begin with, let's listen to your views. Since you're all quite grown up now, I would like to know what your opinion about the emotion called 'Love' is."

There were various kinds of answers, ranging from 'cute', 'beautiful', 'deep' and 'exciting' to 'dumb' 'blank', and 'pointless'.

Miss Kurosawa's eyes then drifted towards Eve, she seemed to be unnaturally quiet today; not that she ever spoke that openly in class, but her eyes always paid attention. But today something was wrong, it appeared. Miss Kurosawa cleared her throat and said, "Miss Vollified, Well what do you think love is?"

Eve's attention was caught by her question but soon her thoughts took over her consciousness, and she said inattentively, "Love is… painful."

The class fell silent. Miss Kurosawa had a serious expression first, but then smiled and gave an understanding look towards Eve. "Sit down, Miss Vollified. Now class let's move towards the text."

The class went on. Eve still stared out of the window. The sky was again getting overcast with dark clouds. Soon there was thunder and lightning.

It was already raining heavily by the time school was over. They were staying back to work for the school carnival. Eve was being pulled by Ellene under her umbrella as they were moving towards the school auditorium. Soon a huge lightning bolted across the sky with a deafening thunder and Ellene ran inside for cover.

Eve however was too lost in thoughts, and within minutes she was completely drenched. The rain drops washing her face so swiftly brought her back to senses, but she stood there, relieved that she could finally let her burden out.

One tear, then another and soon she was crying; after about what seemed an age, she was crying. Yes, Eve Vollified was crying, but she couldn't let others know that, she couldn't let them know that she had developed a weakness. So she had to take the help of the rain, a phenomenon of her initial dislike, the one she had only recently started to warm up to, only because of one person…

Train wandered around the school, with an umbrella in his hand, he had brought some food and an umbrella for Eve, in case it rained when she was returning home, late. He hated the rain for wetting half of his clothes, even the umbrella couldn't save him from the fierce downpour. Soon he saw Eve standing in the rain, totally wet. Train ran towards her, and the water splashed around him; as he came closer, he saw Eve's face was as stoic as always, but there was something, something about those distraught eyes… "Princess," he called out. But there was no answer.

"Princess, here, I brought some food for you, and what are you doing getting wet like this in the rain? You'll fall sick!" Train said concernedly. He noticed that a girl was waving towards Eve, as she cried out, "Eve! Eve! Come inside!" She noticed Train and thought him to be some impostor, "Hey you! What are you doing there? Eve! Get away from there! Come on can't you hear my voice? Ellene's voice?" Train sighed, he shouted back, "Don't worry! I only brought her food from her home that her father sent. I'm her friend."

All the while Train noticed Eve's face bore the same unreadable expression. But her eyes said something else. Train spoke up, "Princess, Come on, let's go inside." He took her by her wrist and tugged her to come along. Eve now spoke for the first time. "No. I want to stay here." Train raised one eyebrow and was about to say something, when he noticed. _She…is crying… hiding her tears in the rain…_ "Princess, what-?" Alas! She had revealed her tears to the very person she wanted to hide it from. Eve quickly took the things from him and started moving towards the auditorium, "Thanks, Train." She said as she left.

...to be continued.


	10. Chapter 9 Hope and Faith

Author's note: Thank you guys for all the support. I hope I can make it up to all of you wonderful readers with this chapter. This was something I came across in the newspaper the other day and thought of doing a bit of reading on this topic, that's when I came up with this. I'm sorry for the last two chapters; actually I was too busy with college admissions. Gomen. Thank you again.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Misao and Kitai are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 9: Hope and Faith.**

_Trring! Trring! _The phone rang in the living room, "I'll get it." Eve said.

"Hello? Eve?" the voice from the other side asked. Eve was a bit surprised to hear from the person after quite such a long time, "Dr. Tearju? Is that really you? I mean-" Eve was cut in by the woman on the line, "Eve, could you come see me this Saturday? If you aren't too busy with school?"

Eve thought for a moment, the carnival day was nearing and the workload at school was pretty heavy too. "Who is it Princess?" That one voice was enough for Eve to quickly make up her mind.

"It's alright. I'll drop by. Yeah, bye." Eve put the receiver down.

Eve turned to find Train looking at her expectantly as if still asking for an answer. "Dr. Tearju. Nothing important." She was too overwhelmed to even reply in complete sentences, she tried hard to act normal but every time he was there in front of her, she just simply couldn't keep a check on her tumultuous emotions. She had been avoiding him for the past three days, or at least trying to… She would grab the slightest opportunity to stay away from him, no matter how much her heart longed to see him; this would spare both of them the trouble of going through pointless embarrassments.

_It's just a crush, just a crush… It'll go away soon… It'll, trust me… _she thought, as she walked towards her room, leaving a quite astonished Train behind.

On Saturday, Eve landed up on Tearju's door. Strangely, the door was open. Eve was taken aback "It's six in the evening, why is the door open? Oh no…" Presuming her creator to be in some kind of danger, Eve rushed inside. The lights were down and Eve sensed some movement towards the passage on her left. It was dark and dead quiet; stealthily she crept inside, a slight creak on the wooden floor made her stand upright, only to realize that it was her own feet making the noise.

As she turned left, she found the door to the room there half open. It was the study room as she could recollect from her last visit two years ago.

As she was about to get inside, she felt a strong hand on her right shoulder, she sprang and her hair transformed instinctively. "EVE!" she heard a woman cry.

Dr. Tearju Lunatique was lying against the wall, her face as pale with fear as a ghost's.

Eve sighed, "It's you…"

She looked at her with bloodshot eyes, "What do you think you were doing? Attacking me like that? I could've been killed you know…" She was right, for the spikes had missed her by a few millimeters.

"What do you mean?" Eve retorted, "Your front door was wide open and the lights were off… I thought there was some intruder and that you were in some kind of danger…"

She said all this in one breath and looked concerned. Tearju got up and smiled; she walked forward and hugged Eve.

"You've grown up, Eve." She said satisfactorily, "But even after not seeing you for the past couple of years, I can tell that you're not quite yourself, today. Is something the matter?" she asked as let go of her.

"It's nothing, everything is alright." Eve said with unfaltering eyes. "I'm just a bit tired of all the pressure that's been building up at school, home and…"

Tearju smiled, "No matter how much you try, you can't lie to me, Eve. If you ever want to talk about it, you're free to do so. Anyways, have a seat in my room as I prepare some coffee for both of us and then we can talk over."

Eve slowly walked into the room they were standing in front of until then. The computer screen was on; some recent research that Tearju was working on. Eve, driven by curiosity, started reading-

"Nano technology in medicine is a relatively new concept but very effective if it is tapped properly. Molecular nanotechnology is highly theoretical; the proposed elements of molecular Nano technology like Nano robots and molecular assemblers are far beyond current capabilities."

She scrolled down further as the piece of text had gripped her attention; she sat down on the chair and then continued reading-

"… Making use of Nano robots, introduced into the patient's bloodstream to repair, or detect damages and infections. The blood borne Nano robot would be between 0.5-3 micrometers in size, to facilitate normal capillary functioning. The success rates of these cell repair machines are enormous. Comparable to the size of viruses or bacteria, their compact parts would allow them to be more complex. The early machines will be highly specialized. As they open and close cell membranes or travel through tissue and enter cells and viruses, machines will only be able to correct a single molecular disorder like DNA damage or enzyme deficiency.

…The Nano particles can prove to be extremely useful in oncology. If Nano particles could do more things other than imaging the infected sites; multifunctional Nano particles that could not only detect but also successfully treat the affected area. It could replace the conventional radiation and chemotherapy in future; a promising new technology that could shape the future of cancer treatment."

"So you've helped yourself, I see…"Tearju said as she entered with two coffee mugs. "Now, Eve, I'll talk to you about it later, but first I want to know what's going on? I mean at home. I know, I'm being interfering but you're my daughter after all, no matter Sven adopted you. Forget about what I said earlier, I want to know what the problem is?" Eve sweat dropped at first, but then she saw Tearju's serious face and realized that she really wanted to know, she hesitatingly spoke, "Well you see, it's just that I-I've—" She was at a loss of words again, and she hated this feeling. Tearju smiled, "You like someone, is it? Someone from class?" Eve nodded to say no.

"No? Then I think you should just give him some time. He sure is quite dense at these things, but I'm sure he'll come round. Have patience and be true to your feelings; don't hide them, at least not from yourself, thinking that you're being imposing… Have hope; because without hope there wouldn't be anything in this world, and have faith, faith in him, that one day, he'll realize your true feelings." Tearju said in a soothing voice. Eve looked at her with surprise "How'd you…?" Tearju smiled as Eve tried hard to conceal the faint blush creeping up. She wanted to talk about her feelings being one-sided for he surely loved Saya, but then decided against it, wanting to suppress the turbulence that was threatening to break out any moment.

"Now, Eve the matter I wanted to talk to you about. It seems you've already read about my recent project; I want your help in this research that I'm conducting Eve. This is a great task, Eve. Many lives could be saved; many families could be saved from breaking down.

Eve, you were created as a weapon, a tool of mass destruction. But you resolved to walk on the right path and serve the society by ridding it of its trash elements. This would be your ultimate accomplishment, Eve. You'd no more be a weapon, but a life-saver. I want to use the Nano technology to treat ailing people, and I need your help, Eve.

I'll talk to Sven about it too, since we need his consent as your parent, but first I want to know what **you** think…" she paused, Eve was listening intently, she continued, "I still don't know what might be the outcome, but I know that we've got nothing to lose here, so Eve, will you help me in my initiative towards a better future?"

Eve sat still for quite some time, lost in deep thought. She finally broke the silence in the room, "But we need a research subject, a human being. Who'd volunteer for something as new and unpredictable as Nano technology?"

Tearju's eyes became dark; she sighed when they suddenly heard some rustling noise. As Tearju, turned, Eve could see behind her two little girls in their pink pinafores, one had a teddy bear in hand, while the other sleepily rubbed her eyes. Eve noticed each of them had their flaming red hair tied into two cute ponytails. They were twins, and looked so alike that it was difficult to tell them apart.

"Luna, Luna… I was sleeping, and she pushed me out of the bed." One pointed at the other accusingly, and then suddenly they broke into tears, "The room was dark and I got scared… You were not there."

Tearju smiled at them as she engulfed them in a hug, "Awww, my sweeties, I'm sorry. I thought you were stronger than the other four-year olds." She laughed. Both the girls pouted, when they noticed Eve sitting there. "Beautiful… She looks just like you Luna… You two are just like us..." One of them said. Eve was enjoying their cute accent and the way they almost ate half the word they said.

Tearju then realized that she needed to introduce them, "Ladies, meet Eve Vollified, she's the daughter of my friend Sven Vollified, who is a sweeper. She herself is also one, and a very adept one, I say."

Eve gave a nod as a 'hi'. Tearju continued, "And Eve, meet Kitai and Misao."

They came running towards her and one of them jumped into her lap, "Eve… Eve… How—"

They kept on asking things; Eve smiled back at them as she answered their questions.

_Hope and Faith huh? Not a bad start…_ she thought.

...to be continued.

A/N: Misao means faith and Kitai means hope in japanese, at least that's what I found out from google! Please excuse my mistake in the choice of names and their meanings.


	11. Chapter 10 I'm Still Waiting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Kitai and Misao are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 10: I'm still waiting…**

Eve had warmed up to both the little girls in just half a day. They were very fond of her too and coaxed her into staying over. The next morning when they were playing out in the backyard, Tearju's words constantly came back to Eve's mind as she watched them play; _"Kitai and Misao were joined together at their head right from their birth. It was only recently that they underwent a surgery to separate them. As you know the chances of survival are meager in these kinds of cases, both their lives were in danger. But they did fare well up until the past two months… Misao has a lump formed in her cerebral region which is of cancerous nature… We were unable to detect the tumor in the past; it was only until recently that on her complaints of sudden headaches and blackouts the lump was diagnosed. I want you to help Eve. Help me save the lives of these two little girls who are yet to see everything, every wonderful thing that this world has to offer and the treasures that await them."_

"Eve, come play with us, please…" they voice snapped her thoughts. As she looked up she saw that Kitai was sitting on a mid-branch of the cherry-blossom tree in the backyard while Misao was standing on the ground pouting, "I want to go there too Kitai, I want to see the streets from there too… So unfair!" Kitai was laughing hard at her twin sister's inability to climb up the tree, she mocked her, "…Hahaha-afraid of heights…hahahaha…" As she was busy laughing her feet slipped, "KITAI!" Eve quickly darted towards as wings appeared on her back and she caught Kitai in her arms. Down on the ground Misao was shocked and as she slowly began to realize what was happening tears started welling from her eyes.

All the while Kitai had kept her eyes closed. As she slowly opened her eyes she saw the beautiful white wings. "Angel…" she said in awe. Eve put her down Misao came running towards them. She rushed towards Kitai and hugged her tightly, "I was so afraid right now… What were you trying to do?! Imagine what would have I done if something happened to you… You Idiot! You're the older one here remember? Take some responsibility!" Eve looked at her in astonishment. She smiled and sat down to talk to them, "Well your sister has said whatever I wanted to say Kitai. Take care of her. She needs you, so you can't do anything reckless as this…"

Kitai looked down, "I'm sorry… I apologize Misao, and to you to Eve. I'm sorry for worrying you both… I won't do anything as irresponsible as that again, I promise! Ne how'd you do that Eve? I saw you were flying weren't you? How'd you do that?"

Eve was finding it hard to explain it to them when Tearju's voice came as her savior. "Kids, Eve breakfast's ready… Rolled Omelets for today…" Kitai and Misao sighed together, "Not that again, that was what she fed us yesterday…"

"… and the day before yesterday…"

"…the whole week!"

In the afternoon after lunch Eve was all set to return back home to Sven and well, Train. "Eve, please don't go, please stay with us for a few days more…" both the sisters cried. "Now, both of you stop crying; I'll come to visit you next Saturday again or probably sooner than that. I'll have to go today because I've school tomorrow and lots of work to finish. Don't worry the next time I come I'll bring something nice for both of you. And it'll be soon, I promise. See you later then." Eve said to them.

"Come back soon, we'll be waiting…" they said as they kissed her goodbye.

Tearju hugged her goodbye and said, "Remember Eve, hope and faith… and what I said to you last night…"

Eve smiled, "I will."

On her way she fell asleep in her seat as she reminisced the various things that happened recently-

"…_I want you to help Eve. Help me save the lives of these two little girls who are yet to see everything, every wonderful thing that this world has to offer and the treasures that await them."_

"_Please, Saya! Wait! Don't… don't go!"_

"…_I think you should just give him some time. He sure is quite dense at these things, but I'm sure he'll come round. Have patience and be true to your feelings; don't hide them, at least not from yourself, thinking that you're being imposing… Have hope; because without hope there wouldn't be anything in this world, and have faith, faith in him, that one day, he'll realize your true feelings."_

"_Beautiful… She looks just like you Luna… You two are just like us..."_

"…_meet Kitai and Misao."_

"_I was so afraid right now… What were you trying to do?! Imagine what would have I done if something happened to you… You Idiot! You're the older one here remember? Take some responsibility!"_

"_I'm sorry… I apologize Misao, and to you to Eve. I'm sorry for worrying you both… I won't do anything as irresponsible as that again, I promise!"_

"_Come back soon, we'll be waiting…"_

She moved and turned as her mind got troubled by all the thoughts and the weird knot that all these emotions were forming in her heart.

When she finally got home, she was exhausted. She slumped down on the couch and spread herself comfortably. No one was home it seemed, for the front door was locked and she opened it with her set of keys. With Train not around, she was soon dozing off in peace.

Meanwhile Train, who was lazing around in his room heard the click of the front door lock. He was very hungry and there was nothing in the fridge, not even his favorite bottle of milk.

He slowly walked out of his room and went into the living room where he saw Eve sleeping. Her breathing was soft and her face had a peaceful expression. Train stared down at her and his gaze was so intently settled on her face that even Eve realized something was wrong in the midst of her deep sleep.

After a while Eve tossed and turned as she half-opened her eyes. Her eyes darted wide open when she realized Train's gaze fixed on her. She was taken aback and cried, "Train, what are you doing freaking me out like that?!" Her sudden rash movements brought him back to reality. "Awww, Princess… I was very hungry and there was nothing in the fridge, not even milk!" He cried in false sobs.

"Fine, I'll cook something for both of us… Don't scare me like that for nothing… Never do that again!" She warned as she walked towards the kitchen. "As you wish, Princess." Train said as he followed her inside. He stood behind her near the kitchen counter. "I'll make some noodles and miso soup, is that okay Train?"

Train smiled, "Whatever you like Princess, I'm just glad that the old Princess is back…" Eve stiffened a bit at his words. She became hyperactive all of a sudden. Train stood up too at this sudden change of behavior. She furiously started chopping the vegetables. The kettle on the gas stove went off notifying that the boiling water was ready. Eve started to work with such tremendous speed that she made mistakes in almost all the basic stuff. Train looked worried and wanted to help her. "Princess, let me help you…" Eve who was now removing the kettle from the oven startled and the water spilled over some parts over Train and the rest fell on the ground. "HOT, HOT, HOT…" Train cried as some splatters fell on him. He quickly took off his shirt "Ice, get some ice…" Places in his abdomen and chest had turned red from the splatters of the hot water. His voice was enough to make her realize that it was not the time to act weird but to help him. Eve cried, "No, not direct ice… It'll hurt you even more." She quickly took out the ice tray from the freezer and in a bowl took water from the sink and put the ice cubes in them. She then quickly took a neat cotton cloth from the hanger in the kitchen and dipped it in the cold water and applied it against the burnt areas.

Train winced a few times in pain but soon he realized how close she was to him, and he simple stared at her. A faint blush was creeping up in his cheeks, as he smiled.

Eve looked busy and worried, "I'll get the burns ointment from the first-aid kit. Do as I was doing, put the cold water in the affected places you'll feel better." She opened the cupboard adjacent to the sink and took out the first-aid kit; soon she was applying the ointment on his wounds. "It's a minor burn so this'll do… be careful for the next 3-4 days and you'll be fine…" she said busily. Train smiled at her when she looked at him, it was then she realized that this moment had already turned into an embarrassing one, something which she desperately wanted to avoid. She said quickly, "I'll go get you a dry towel…" As she was about to dart towards the door, Train quickly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her behind. She stood there like a stone with her back facing him, a distance of a few centimeters between them. Train slowly leaned down towards her and soon she could feel his breath near her left ear.

"Princess," he said softly, "Are you trying to avoid me?" Eve tried to quickly get a grip on herself. "N-No… Why would I?"

Train smiled, "Then why are you trying to hide that burn on your hand from me?" Eve soon felt his arms softly engulfing her from behind as his right hand held out the burn on her right hand. She successfully tried not to give in to him as her cheeks flared up. "Oh, I didn't notice it… And I was not trying to hide it…" She fumbled. Train said in that same soothing voice, "Good… Now let me get you treated as we talk over about that strange attitude of yours that you've kept up for the past couple of days."

Train turned around as he smiled to himself, Eve stood there stiffly.

"I'm still waiting, Princess."

...to be continued.


	12. Chapter 11 Confession!

Author's note: Thank you wonderful people who think that this story is readable. My heartfelt thanks to you for your reviews and especially to 'FromMeToYou123456' for the chapter-wise support! Sorry to have kept you all waiting, first my computer broke down and then I was having my exams (well, they are still continuing) but I hope to update sooner this time. This one turned out to be a little too melodramatic than I expected, Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 11: Confession?!**

Her conversation with Train didn't go well at all. Instead she had to tell a new set of made-up stories. Now she had a so-called 'Shin' named guy whom she liked, and was apprehensive to approach him because she thought he liked someone else and such other concoctions; except that she had to narrate all this in front of her 'love-doctor', who was actually the very person she loved.

Train didn't seem to believe her at first, rather he didn't want to.

"Don't tell me you already have a boyfriend, Eve?" he asked bewildered. Eve took a defensive stance and said, "Well I do…" Train was taken aback, Eve continued, "…at least I want him to. But he loves someone else. But I just can't seem to get him out of my head…" She spoke wholeheartedly, taking out all her frustrations, after all Train was her first confidante even before she met Ellene. She poured her heart out revealing everything to him except for the fact that this guy she liked was actually Train. Train looked upset now, "I just can't believe that you-"

Eve soon realized that she was losing control over her emotions and she could give out the truth any moment. So she tried to mislead the conversation. She said in an offended tone, "What do you mean, you can't believe? Can't I have a boyfriend?" Train fumbled, "N-no…No, I didn't mean that at all… I mean you- you're beautiful, intelligent, strong, gorgeous, and dependable- every guy will want to have a girlfriend like you… He's a fool to ignore you like this. I think you should forget him and move on. He doesn't deserve you…" He ended in a firm tone. Eve couldn't believe whether she heard it right, she remained silent for his words to sink in. No matter how hard she tried it was becoming impossible for her to hold back.

Both were very upset; Eve could feel the tears rimming up, she hurried towards her room, Train took out his frustration on the kitchen wall after she left.

Eve was very disappointed and hurt. It felt as if someone had asked her to take out her heart and throw it away. "Forget you, forget you?! How can I do that when I see your face every day when I look in the mirror? The walls break down when I see you smile and the world becomes a much brighter place than it actually is. I hear your voice calling out to me at all ungodly hours and when I finally confess all you say to me is that trash!"

"You're an idiot, Train! I hate you!" She cried as Train stopped at her door and was about to raise his hand to knock. He thought probably he said too much and needed to apologize to his Princess. He sighed as he withdrew his hand and slowly walked away towards his own room.

Dinner was a quiet affair; (at least for a while, for Train was back to his own cheerful self as soon as he saw the chicken steak and his bottle of milk) Sven was a little surprised at first but then relaxed afterwards. He said, "Eve seems to be pretty busy with her school and stuff. She wanted to have her dinner in her room tonight. I think there's something else that's been bothering her." He looked at Train, Train looked away to avoid his gaze and concentrated on the food and his momentary optimism disappeared; he looked serious and lost in thought.

He went up on the roof and was there till long. His thoughts were crushing him from inside and he lay there in some sort of benumbed trance-like state. He returned to his room early in the morning at about four and walked about with pensive strides. But it was becoming unbearable for him in there; so he went out for a stroll to get some fresh air outside.

He returned home an hour later at about six in the morning with a 'wanted' criminal's poster in hand.

At the breakfast table, Sven was busy laying the table as Train walked in, "Sven, we have a bounty to catch... I don't quite feel like-"

He slumped down on the couch in the living room and fell asleep soon after.

"I'm leaving," Eve said as she hurried towards the door. She was in her school uniform and carried a big white canvas sheet which revealed bits of the main poster of their carnival from the sides.

"What about breakfast, Eve? I said have your food and then you can leave…" Sven said.

"Don't have time; Ellene's waiting for me out there. We've to finish the work by today afternoon since the opening ceremony is tonight. Don't worry I'll be home by lunch. Anyways I'll leave now." She said all these in one breath as she quickly put on her shoes.

Sven rushed outside too.

"Eve, I know something's been bothering you for quite some time now… Whatever it is I want you to talk to me about it, after all I'm your father and first a friend. I know that things are a bit rough at the moment, so why don't you stay over for the ceremony and spend some time with your friends it'll help you get relaxed and feel refreshed. Well, if you're worried about Tearju's recent project, then I must inform you that tomorrow we're leaving for her house and we can discuss it there together."

Eve looked down at the ground, "Thanks, Sven. I really appreciate your support. As for attending the carnival's ceremony, I think I'd like to stick to my decision." She looked up at him with a gaze that pained his heart, and continued in a low whisper, "After all I don't have anyone with whom I could go there…" Sven looked at her concernedly; she added loud and fast, "Never mind, that. I'll leave now since it's already late."

As she left Sven muttered under his breath, "Don't worry Eve, I'll make sure that you attend that ceremony."

It was already past the lunch hour when Train finally got up. Sven was not there at home. Instead he left a brown package and a note on the dining table.

_I'm leaving for the bounty Train; when you do wake up, please deliver this parcel to Eve at her school. She's going to need it. You don't have to worry about me; it's your day off for today. Spend it as you like… Your lunch is in the fridge. I have packed some lunch for Eve too, be sure to deliver both to her._

_Sven _

Train sighed as he finished reading the note. _Guess this could be a good opportunity to talk to Princess about what I said earlier…_ He thought.

Within an hour he was ready to go. He took the parcel and her lunch with him. He was dressed in his all black attire as always. Soon he was off on his black bike.

His messy hair danced with the wind and his pair of cat-eyes glowed in the setting sun as his bike roared its way through the streets of the town. Within quarter of an hour he was at the school gates.

… To be continued.


	13. Chapter 12 The Magic of the DreamWeavers

Author's note: Yay! Finally I'm done with this chapter. Almost took me forever to write. Thank you for the reviews. I was feeling too nervous since this was supposed to be the longest chapter of the story (till now, that is.) but 'all's well that ends well!' Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 12: The Magic of the Dream Weavers**

"… Yes, did you see him? Wonder who he is…"

"He's so handsome…"

"If looks could kill, then this carnival would've turned into a homicide…"

Train walked in amidst the whispers and discussions about the sudden entry of this gorgeous stranger.

Ellene was busy supervising and helping put up the decorations in the ground floor corridors. She recognized the familiar stature, "Hey!" she called out to him, "You're the guy from other day, isn't it?" She paced towards him, and saw the packages in his hand, she gave him a suspicious look as Train sweatdropped and let out, "Where's your friend? Her father sent lunch and well… it's urgent." She said in a distrusting tone "Eve's up there in the second floor; be careful not to damage anything as that floor has been cordoned off until the party. Go quickly someone might notice you and-"

Train started walking towards the said direction as Ellene stood staring at his fading silhouette. _Hope everything goes alright…_ she still didn't quite believe him.

Train noticed the bright blue and silvery white shimmering decorations on his way. A big blue background wall with a shimmering white moon and an angel hanging from the ceiling caught his attention as he reached the end of the first floor corridor.

Eve was busy lighting up the party hall suitably so that the theme of the party could be highlighted. The dance floor looked picture perfect, just like a living dream. She was standing atop the steps of a ladder fixing up the lightings. Eve cried, "We're done here. Let's test it once."

Train walked in as the place lit up in heavenly glow and the bluish silvery hue engulfed the entire hall. Train's all-black appearance stood out sharply, starting a storm of murmurs about who this stunningly attractive guest might be. Eve turned behind to find Train standing at the center of the dance floor.

He looked up at Eve; her porcelain skin shone in the light and reflected the same creating a heavenly aura around her. Her long white legs were clearly visible in her school uniform, now that she didn't have her socks on. He stood there staring at her for quite some time when her voice brought him back to reality.

"What are you doing here Train?" she asked as she came down from the ladder and walked towards him. "I thought you were out with Sven…" Her eyes fell on the package in his hand. Train was all the while studying her every movement with an unfaltering gaze. He realized the presence of the package in his hands and handed it out to her.

"Sven sent it for you, said you'll need it."

As the exchange took place their fingers lightly brushed against each other, causing both of them to color slightly.

"Oi Vollified, how's it going? Need some help? I'm already done with the food arrangements." Zine called up from behind. Both Train and Eve tried to look the other way as Zine walked up to them. He continued as his eyes fell on Train, "Who's your friend here?" He then looked at Train and smiled, "You must be the guy the whole school's been talking about! Nice to meet you, I'm Zine." He held out his hand. Train shook his hand and said, "I'm Train Heartnet, a sweeper."

"I know. Ellene told me. She doesn't quite trust you though, well you know, girls…" he smirked, "You look a pretty decent chap to me, after all Eve's choice can't be that bad, can it?" he said.

Eve stiffened at his words and wished that the ground would open up and swallow her so that she could escape the embarrassment. She somehow managed to gather herself quickly and said, "Well, Zine, Ms. Kurosawa's been looking for you since ages. She wanted to talk to you about your speech…"

Zine's face showed he remembered something important and exclaimed, "Shoot! How could I forget that? Thanks Eve, see you around Train." He left immediately. Train stood there quite surprised.

Eve and Train came out of the hall together. Eve had the packages in her hand. Train suggested, "Let's find a quiet place where you can have your lunch. It's nearly half past four. Quick, let's sit here." He pointed to an empty classroom. As they sat down, Eve quietly munched on her lunch while Train thought out ways to approach her about last day's incident. Finally after much thinking he looked straight into her eyes and said determinedly, "Princess- "

Suddenly the door slid open and two girls stepped in, Eve recognized the two of them to be from her class. They quickly retraced back their steps when they saw the two of them already sitting there.

"We're very sorry to disturb your private conversation." They bowed and closed the door behind them.

Eve closed her bento and quickly got up from her seat quite flushed, and opened the door, "We're leaving Train. I still have some work left. As I go about it, you can look around the school."

As Train walked about, he heard whispers from here and there.

"… Yeah he's with that strange girl from class 2-B."

"Vollified? Who's she?"

After about an hour later, he finally met up with Eve.

"Are you finished with everything, Princess?" Train asked.

Eve sighed, "Yeah almost done, just wait for fifteen more minutes and then we'll set out for home."

Train looked puzzled, "Home? Aren't you going to attend the ceremony and the party after that? No, Princess, I want to stick around a bit longer… I like the ambience here." Eve looked a bit down at his words. Train continued, "Well did you open the package? What's in it that you required so urgently…?"

Eve silently started to walk away as she felt the blood rise to her cheeks, after she had moved quite a distance she opened her mouth, "Fine, Train, we'll stay back."

She returned some time later, "Here's a pass for the party Train. In case you're asked, show this. I won't be there with you since I'll be busy backstage. I'll join you later, okay?" She left soon after.

At about six thirty the opening ceremony started. Fireworks exploded across the sky as the Principal entered the school grounds with the Chief Guests. The welcome speech was an inspiringly warm one given by Zine. Ellene clapped loud and hard as soon as he finished. Many other girls did too, sighing and nearly swooning over their soccer team captain. Amidst the loud cheer and applause Train couldn't find Eve anywhere. He thought he caught a glimpse of her amidst the backstage crew but then there was no sign of her again. The crowd then moved to the second floor hall.

By eight the party had started. Ellene took the center stage.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It gives me immense pleasure to announce that the 15th annual carnival has begun… Please put your hands together for your hosts tonight, the Dream Weavers. These are the students of both junior and senior sections who've been working hard for the past three weeks to make this event a huge success. Let the party start!"

As soon as she finished girls and boys under masquerades walked in waving and bowing to the guests. Amidst them, Train recognized a pair of magenta eyes and golden hair that were too conspicuous to not notice.

She was in a white off-shoulder embellished evening dress that ran just a little above her knees. The dress girded around her waist and the sheer organza fabric nearly blurred into her porcelain white skin. Her long blonde hair was left open; the sides were clipped, with a few stray strands, which cupped her face perfectly.

Soon after, people started moving towards the dance floor in pairs. Eve purposely started to make herself busy with the food arrangements and making sure that the guests were getting enough of their hospitability. Train joined her, "Hey Princess, are you still working? I wanted to-"

"Just a minute Train, I'll be back in a moment."

When she returned, the mask around her eyes was not there. Now her beautiful big magenta eyes were clearly visible. Ellene accompanied her.

"So are you enjoying the party Train?" She asked. Train nodded. Zine waved at them from the other side of the floor. Ellene waved back at him while Eve and Train smiled back.

Two girls suddenly came up to them, looked at Eve and said "Well, Volli- anyways won't you introduce us to your boyfriend here?" By this time Zine too had come over. Eve remained silent and as Ellene was about to open her mouth when Train said quickly, "Oh no, I'm just a friend… She already likes someone else." As he spoke, he felt a sudden pain crippling his heart. Eve's face fell at his words.

A tense moment passed on between the six of them. Just then one of the girls spoke up, "Well good for you." She said to Train and they left. Something about the eyes of Eve's best friends forbade them from asking Train to dance with them or any such questions for that matter.

Zine suggested, "Come on Eve, Train, lets hit the dance floor."

Eve was still recovering from the fresh wound inflicted on her heart, she added lowly, "You all go ahead, and I'll pass. Anyways I need to look over the food and the drinks."

She walked away from them, out of the party and into an empty classroom.

She shut the door behind her and walked over to the window. It was a starry night, the moon was big and high up in the sky.

"… _Actually, I also wanted to see how __**you**__ were doing, you know school and friends and everything…" _

"_I know you're strong Princess and that you can protect yourself and take care of yourself as well as the people you care for. When I did that, I didn't do it out of pity, it's just that I didn't want to hurt you…"_

"… _The rooftops were lonely and the stars were sad that their admirer was not there anymore. So I thought that I could probably erase their pain in my own way."_

_For you, so that our bonds never break…_

"_Oh yeah… No matter how old it is, it's very precious. It reminds me of my bonds, you know… Bonds that I never wish to break or let go of…"_

"_Please, Saya! Wait! Don't…"_

"…_I think you should forget him and move on. He doesn't deserve you…"_

"_Oh no, I'm just a friend. She already likes someone else."_

She was lost in her thoughts when the door slid open. She turned around to see who it was and recognized the pair of cat eyes that were scanning the dark room. She turned back to face the stars. Train closed the door behind him.

"Princess…"

"How'd you find me? I thought you were at the party…"

"Picked up on your scent. I can recognize your sweet smell anywhere…" Fortunately the room was pretty dark, for Train blushed heavily as he spoke. Eve however was too hurt to listen to any of his words.

"I'm sorry Princess for what I said the other day. I was just being stupid. I think you should at least let him know once. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try…"

Her eyes widened at his words. She kept on looking outside the window. He continued, "I've wanted to talk to you since the morning, but something or the other stopped me. Moreover ever since I stepped into your school, I've been putting you in embarrassing situations with people thinking me to be the guy you like, even your friends thought so- I'm sorry, Princess."

"What if they are actually right Train? Did you ever give it a thought that the guy I liked could be you? What if you were the one I fell in love with, Train? I was the one who was being stupid Train, not you... I should have done this long ago. You were right Train; it wouldn't hurt to give it a try…"

This time her emotions didn't burst out in her voice, she spoke calmly. But the tears streamed down her cheeks in silence as the darkness played on with the moonlight.

… to be continued.


	14. Chapter 13 You and Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 13: You and Me**

"W-What are y-you talking about Princess?!" Train stuttered, quite shocked. Eve wiped away her tears and now turned to face him. He simply stared at her in surprise. She smiled and said, "I feel better now Train, like a burden's been lifted off… I feel relieved. Thanks Train."

She went over and hugged him lightly, "Thank you Train, thank you so much…You always come to my rescue when I'm in need of it! Thank you, Black Cat!" She let go of him and Train saw her smile weakly. She then paced out of the classroom, Train simply stood there like a stone still letting her words to sink in.

As soon as she closed the door behind her she started running away from the place. _I feel so calmed, so relieved, thank you Train for hearing me out… I know you can never love me, but that's okay… After all, in love there are no binds nor are there any walls between two people in love… I admit that my heart still pains that the person I ever fell in love with loves someone else, but I can't make you fall in love with me, Train… I guess I should've thought about the consequences or at least about how you felt for me, before I…_ The tears started coming back once again. Eve returned home soon after and walked into her room straightaway. She spent the night with her tearstained pillow and the bright moonlight coming in through her window.

The next morning Eve and Sven set out for Dr. Tearju's place. Train was in his room at the time of departure and he didn't answer inspite of the several knocks on his door. So Sven, thinking that he was still asleep, left a note on his door that they were leaving for Dr. Tearju's house.

Train heard them leave. He sighed and walked to his window to see the car vanish into the distance. He returned late last night after all that he heard and saw. His turbulent emotions couldn't seem to find a proper outlet, or a proper direction for that matter. He was still too stunned and shocked to realize how he actually felt. It seemed he still didn't know how to react.

_For you, so that our bonds never break…_

"… _The rooftops were lonely and the stars were sad that their admirer was not there anymore. So I thought that I could probably erase their pain in my own way."_

"_Eve seems to be pretty busy with her school and stuff. She wanted to have her dinner in her room tonight. I think there's something else that's been bothering her."_

He recalled their conversation on the day they first met when he returned after a gap of four years.

"…_No Zine and Ellene like each other, their feelings are mutual. They won't admit that though. I find them strange sometimes, they constantly bicker at the slightest instances, but they care for each other the most."_

"_Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Never mind, Princess. So do __**you**__ like him?"_

He remembered her weird laughter that day.

"_What's so funny, Princess?"_

"_Nothing Train, and no I don't like him. But I'm like him though. He never met his parents. He's known himself to be an orphan from the very beginning. We're very good friends, best friends. I just wish that he finds all the happiness in the world; Sometimes I get frightened that I'd have probably ended up like him had Sven and you not taken me in that night. I just want to be his good friend and guide him through this darkness like I was guided by Sven and you. He studies at our school on scholarships. He's the school soccer team's forward. And well Ellene is also my best friend, my confidante. She lives with her mother who's a dentist. Her father passed away in an accident when she was three. Ellene is the school's karate club captain. Strange isn't it, that a staunch bookworm like me has such athletic friends." _

The strange sadness she had in her eyes at that time pained his heart once again.

"_What if they are actually right Train? Did you ever give it a thought that the guy I liked could be you? What if you were the one I fell in love with, Train? I was the one who was being stupid Train, not you... I should have done this long ago. You were right Train; it wouldn't hurt to give it a try…"_

"_I feel better now Train, like a burden's been lifted off… I feel relieved. Thanks Train."_

"_Thank you Train, thank you so much…You always come to my rescue when I'm in need of it! Thank you, Black Cat!" _

At that time when she leant to hug him, her skin barely touching him; he wanted to hold her, to hug her tight and never let her go. At that time he wanted to stop her from walking away, but it seemed that his brain and heart were not in coordination last night.

What was that feeling of despair creeping up in his heart when she sadly walked away? Why did he desperately wish that she didn't like Zine when he asked her about her friends? Why was he so angry when he heard that she liked someone? Why did he selfishly say that she should forget the guy and move on in life? Why was he so jealous? Why did his heart beat rush every time she was near him? Why did it pain his heart every time he said that they were 'friends'? Was that because he loved her?

Last night his brain couldn't process what she said, but his heart understood and reciprocated too.

Kitai and Misao were very happy to see Eve. They took her away to their room as Sven and Tearju talked about her recent project and its prospects. Eve played with them, but her heart was left back at home with a certain someone.

"…_I think you should forget him and move on. He doesn't deserve you…"_

"_Oh no, I'm just a friend. She already likes someone else."_

"_I'm sorry Princess for what I said the other day. I was just being stupid. I think you should at least let him know once. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try…"_

"_I've wanted to talk to you since the morning, but something or the other stopped me. Moreover ever since I stepped into your school, I've been putting you in embarrassing situations with people thinking me to be the guy you like, even your friends thought so- I'm sorry, Princess."_

"_What if they are actually right Train? Did you ever give it a thought that the guy I liked could be you? What if you were the one I fell in love with, Train? I was the one who was being stupid Train, not you... I should have done this long ago. You were right Train; it wouldn't hurt to give it a try…"_

"_W-What are y-you talking about Princess?!"_

"_I feel better now Train, like a burden's been lifted off… I feel relieved. Thanks Train."_

"_Thank you Train, thank you so much…You always come to my rescue when I'm in need of it! Thank you, Black Cat!" _

_For you, so that our bonds never break…_

"_Oh yeah… No matter how old it is, it's very precious. It reminds me of my bonds, you know… Bonds that I never wish to break or let go of…"_

Eve smiled sadly as her thoughts played on.

After lunch, Eve sat down with a book; it had been a while since she read one. But once again she felt her depressing thoughts take over.

Kitai and Misao came over with a ball in their hand.

"Come on Eve lets go out and play. The sun is bright and happy; it's such a pleasant and warm day."

"Oh-Okay, I'm coming…" Eve said. Sitting there with the book was making her ponder over all the things once again. Some exercise would surely take her mind off her unrequited love.

Soon they were out in the garden, playing. After about an hour the kids were tired and they wanted to finish the game soon.

The ball rolled over to the other side, to a place that fell on Eve's blind spot from the place where she was standing.

Kitai came back with the ball in her hand; she had a strange look on her face, "Looks like we have a guest here, Eve."

Behind her walked in someone at whom Misao exclaimed, "Beautiful… he has eyes like that of a cat!"

"Is he your boyfriend, Eve…?" Kitai asked knowingly.

Eve was about to say something, when Train looked straight into her eyes and said, "Princess, we need to talk."

She tried to act perfectly normal, not wanting to impose herself on him, so she gave a look of surprise, smiled and said, "About what Train?"

"About you… and me. About Us."

He then took her by her wrist and pulled her along.

Eve became tensed at once and said, "Where are we going, Train?"

"For a walk."

Eve asked the twins to go inside, "I'll be back in a while. Don't worry."

"Luna, Luna, Eve went out with a guy named Train, she said she'd be back soon. Do you know him, Luna?" They cried in a pensive tone as soon as they went inside.

They had come quite a long way from Dr. Tearju's house, an awkward silence prevailing between them. Eve decided to break the silence between them, since it was stifling her from inside and she knew Train felt the same too.

"So Train, you were sleeping when we came here, Sven left a note…"

"Hmm…"

"Did you meet Kitai and Misao? Those two are very cute, isn't it? Their names are also very beautiful… Hope and Faith…"

Eve seemed too get lost somewhere-

"…_Have patience and be true to your feelings; don't hide them, at least not from yourself, thinking that you're being imposing… Have hope; because without hope there wouldn't be anything in this world, and have faith, faith in him, that one day, he'll realize your true feelings."_

"Princess…"Train stopped walking, "I wanted to talk to you about what you said last night."

Eve, realizing that he had stopped, turned back to face him, smiled and said, "It's alright, Train, I understand that you love Saya…"

Train looked at her in astonishment.

She looked at him with anguish in her eyes but her face tried to pull up a smile.

He sighed and said, "Princess, I finally realized my feelings for the girl I actually ever fell in love with. I was so dense that it took me a long time to realize it. She's a sweeper too… She's an important person in my life, for it was holding her soft hands that I continued walking in the right path." He paused for a moment; Eve did not want to hear anymore, for his words were shredding her already broken heart. He continued "It's really strange how we came together; for the first time we met, we were after each other's lives. She's a beautiful girl, intelligent and dependable. Her hair is as bright as the day and her eyes, her magenta eyes are the mirrors to her heart…"

Eve was startled at first, not being able to believe whether she heard him right.

"Her face always bears this stoic and unreadable expression, but I can read her eyes… She speaks in a weird monotone, but her smile can even brighten up the day… and her pleasing scent, like that of a mix of sweet lavender and green apple… I can recognize her scent anywhere. The most adorable thing is that when she blushes and then denies it completely saying something as 'It's just the sun', but then again she doesn't know that my ears have already picked up her fast heart beats… She's a Princess; **my** Princess."

Eve was blushing alright, for her cheeks were now of the color of the sun setting in front of her.

"It's just the sun." she said.

"Really?" He smirked as he engulfed her in a tight embrace, wanting never to let go.

… To be continued.

Author's note: Yes! Finally I'm done. I hope you'll like this one. Actually I didn't want the previous chapter to be too rushed… Sorry if the suspense bothered some of you… I hope this chapter makes it up to you… Thank you and please review.


	15. Chapter 14 Stand by me

Author's note: Yeah, I know I overdid it this time. And no excuses this time, it was just me feeling too lazy to finish writing this chapter. Sorry! Anyways, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only and The Jokerman too!**

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 14: Stand by me**

Eve shivered in the cold morning chill; she was fresh out of shower and getting ready for the new day. Yes, a new day had come in her life. This morning would mark a new beginning in her life since Train confessed to her last evening. She couldn't believe whether it was real or just another dream.

"_Her face always bears this stoic and unreadable expression, but I can read her eyes… She speaks in a weird monotone, but her smile can even brighten up the day… and her pleasing scent, like that of a mix of sweet lavender and green apple… I can recognize her scent anywhere. The most adorable thing is that when she blushes and then denies it completely saying something as 'It's just the sun', but then again she doesn't know that my ears have already picked up her fast heart beats… She's a Princess; __**my**__ Princess."_

She felt a strange happiness fill her heart and weirdly, she felt quite warm inspite of the nip in the air. Winter was fast approaching after all. She was lost in thoughts as she ran the hairbrush through her long golden locks, staring out into the distance standing at her window.

This morning was all the more significant because Dr. Tearju would start Misao's treatment today.

Her gaze stood transfixed on a dry leaf barely hanging from a tree branch. She felt her insides twisting as the leaf struggled to hold on; but the wind was harsh. She silently kept on asking the leaf to hang on but eventually the leaf fell and she resigned the event to its fate. The entire event had strong influence on her entire thought process. What if something went wrong today?

She heard a knock on her door, and absentmindedly said, "Come in." The door opened and she caught a glimpse of the dark brown messy hair and those all-too-familiar pair of cat-eyes. She however continued to remain lost in her inner turbulences as her hand quite mechanically ran the hairbrush through her hair.

She hadn't realized that Train was now standing just behind her. He slowly leaned down and breathed into her right ear, "Something bothering you princess?" His words made her startle and her hands stopped moving, her chain of thoughts were broken and soon she realized that she was actually engulfed in his arms. She resigned herself to him and they remained like that for a while. Train was breathing in her fresh scent, when he said, "I think you didn't sleep quite well last night, Princess. Were you missing me too much?" He smirked.

Eve however remained quiet. Train turned her to face him, "Seriously Princess, is something the matter? You can tell me, you know." Eve looked at him and saw the concerned look on his face. _What do I do? Should I tell him that I was going to be a part of Misao's treatment procedure? But the last time that I told him I was using nanotechnology, he was furious. After that Eden incident I cannot let him hurt anymore for my sake! I must not tell him, not until the treatment procedures are over._ A small smile appeared on her face and she nodded a 'no'. "Everything's fine, Train."

Train smiled as he pulled her in a tight embrace; meanwhile someone kept an eye on them from the half-open door of Eve's room.

"Tearju?" Sven cried, "What are you doing standing near Eve's door like that?" Tearju's face gave out that she was suddenly brought back to reality by Sven's voice. Thankfully, neither Train nor Eve heard them or so it seemed.

Sven moved towards her, "Is something the matter? Is Eve alright?" Sven asked as he moved towards the door. Tearju panicked that their 'little' secret would soon be out and hell would break loose. She swayed her arms frantically and turned Sven towards the kitchen, "Everything's alright, Sven. And breakfast's ready, come on."

Sven gave a puzzled look, "Huh?! I thought it was my turn to prepare breakfast today, you said last night?" Tearju stuttered, "Yeah, that's what I meant. Now get working because I'm starving!"

Sven soon started to get busy with the pots and pans. _Phew!_ She thought, _that was a close call!_

"Train!" Sven cried, "Come on, we're out in five minutes! We have a big bounty to catch, remember?"

Train cried back, "Yeah I'm coming, just a minute"

"Take care, Eve, and be careful. Remember we're always by your side. Today's a big day for you. My best wishes." Sven said as he planted a kiss on her head. "Thank you, Sven", Eve said, her eyes looked pensive and dark.

"Princess, aren't you coming with us?" Train asked.

"No she's staying back and helping out Tearju; besides the kids want her to stay. We're leaving tomorrow morning remember?" Sven said.

"Oh okay, Princess, take care!" he added cheerfully and soon they set out.

Train, however felt something was wrong, right from Eve's behavior in the morning, to Tearju's weird laughter at the breakfast table, when he mentioned what she was cooking; even Sven's actions seemed to strike him. He however put his thoughts aside and concentrated on the bounty that they had set out to catch.

This was a case similar to the Igor Planter incident. The bounty was a man in his mid-forties, who called himself 'The Jokerman'. He had undergone several mutations which enabled him to suck in 'happy souls' at least that's what the rumors went. Basically he could mutate people's thoughts to send them into a never-ending depression by just grabbing them by their head. This would leave his victims suicidal and even homicidal; giving rise to even more criminals in the city. Calisto Byington, one of their earlier catch was one his victims.

"You sure Eve, you don't want to tell him?" Tearju asked. "Here call him up and at least say him that you're going to be a part of this treatment procedure." Eve said determinedly, "No Tearju, I'm sure and I've made up my mind. I'll talk to him about it after we're done with this. I'm sure he'll understand and besides I don't want him to worry about me all the time."

Soon the treatment procedures were on board and Misao and Eve were in the laboratory, along with and her team of eminent doctors and scientists.

"Concentrate, Eve on what's your priority. From the moment, I start the machine, you'll not be Eve Vollified anymore, not anyone's daughter, not anyone's friend, not anyone's teammate and- not anyone's beloved." Her voice quivered a little at the last part. Eve felt her heart race for a moment. But she calmed herself down and closed her eyes, as faces of her friends and family flashed in front of her eyes.

"_Take care, Eve, and be careful. Remember we're always by your side. Today's a big day for you. My best wishes."_

"_Eve what's the matter? You can tell me you know…"_

"_Oi Vollified, how's it going? Need some help?... After all Eve's choice can't be that bad, can it?"_

"…_I think you should just give him some time. He sure is quite dense at these things, but I'm sure he'll come round. Have patience and be true to your feelings; don't hide them, at least not from yourself, thinking that you're being imposing… Have hope; because without hope there wouldn't be anything in this world, and have faith, faith in him, that one day, he'll realize your true feelings."_

"…_meet Kitai and Misao."_

"_Beautiful… She looks just like you Luna… You two are just like us..."_

"_Kitai and Misao were joined together at their head right from their birth. It was only recently that they underwent a surgery to separate them. As you know the chances of survival are meager in these kinds of cases, both their lives were in danger. But they did fare well up until the past two months… Misao has a lump formed in her cerebral region which is of cancerous nature… We were unable to detect the tumor in the past; it was only until recently that on her complaints of sudden headaches and blackouts the lump was diagnosed. I want you to help Eve. Help me save the lives of these two little girls who are yet to see everything, every wonderful thing that this world has to offer and the treasures that await them."_

"_Princess…"_

Soon a wave of warm feelings and happiness swept over her and she found herself lost in some distant land.

Dr. Tearju Lunatique was keeping her gaze fixed on the large screen in her laboratory. Her entire team was alert and on their feet; the infected area in Misao's brain was being mapped and both Eve's and Misao's vital stats were being monitored.

Eve could see someone standing there in the distance. As she kept on walking towards to it, she somehow felt that the distance between them was increasing more and more. The skies above her were getting darker and soon she felt an eerie cold feeling in her heart.

"How could you do this to me, Eve?" Misao called out. Eve was shocked to see that the figure that she'd been chasing now for hours was actually Misao. But the profile which she saw from the distance was that of an adult. "You can't take away my sister from me Eve!" Kitai was also there. "What's going on?" Eve cried out, "What are you both saying? I just wanted to help. I just wanted both of you to have a happy and normal life."

"You lied to us, Eve. You're not our friend. The Truth is you're nothing but a killing machine!"

Then she saw her best friend over there, but she didn't quiet look like herself.

"Ellene?" Eve looked puzzled. She had a sad look on her face, her tearstained cheeks and unkempt hair spoke volumes of her misery. "What're you doing here?" Eve's eyes then fell on the person lying in her lap, soaked in blood. "Zine?!What happened to him? Ellene answer me!" The look in Ellene's eyes horrified her. "W-Who did this to him, Ellene? Tell me!" Eve cried. Ellene quietly pointed at her; the blank stare which Eve received was heart-wrenching.

"You're a weapon!"

These four words echoed all over and she felt the walls were crashing down.

Eve's heart rate was rising rapidly, while the Nano machines inside Misao's head seemed to have found a brain of their own.

"Dr. Lunatique, Eve's heart rate has had an abnormal pacing. We need to stop this, right now." One of Tearju's team members cried.

"We can't. The operation's midway and stopping right here may prove fatal for both of them. Besides, the Nano machines are not under Eve's control right now. She has lost all her consciousness. We need to bring her back first, and for that we need to see through this right now." Dr. Tearju replied. She tried to stay strong, but in her heart she knew what she felt right at that moment.

She went over to Eve and said calmly, "Eve, I know you're in there. Can you hear me? Stay focused Eve. You cannot let your thoughts wander. Concentrate on your task. You need to take us through this. You can do it Eve. I know you can."

"_Have hope; because without hope there wouldn't be anything in this world, and have faith…"_

"_Take care, Eve, and be careful. Remember we're always by your side. Today's a big day for you. My best wishes."_

"…_Eve, you were created as a weapon, a tool of mass destruction. But you resolved to walk on the right path and serve the society by ridding it of its trash elements. This would be your ultimate accomplishment, Eve. You'd no more be a weapon, but a life-saver. I want to use the Nano technology to treat ailing people, and I need your help, Eve…"_

Suddenly she heard a tinkling bell.

"_I know you're strong Princess and that you can protect yourself and take care of yourself as well as the people you care for..."_

"Train…" was all that she could mutter. Soon something dawned on her and she could shake herself off the daze that was slowly taking over her.

"I'll fight back. I need to focus on what I came to do here. Although I can have no control over my Nano machines now, but I still need to concentrate and hope for the best. I cannot let all those people down who have entrusted their faith in me. I cannot let my insecurities overpower me. After all, I'm a human being, with my own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, I'm a human being with special abilities, and not a weapon. I'm not a weapon. I have a heart too; a heart that knows how to trust someone, like I trusted Sven; a heart that can make friends, like I did with Ellene and Zine; a heart that can feel the pain of others like I felt for Misao and Kitai; a heart that can love someone, like I love Train."

"_Trring! Trring!" _Sven's phone rang. The name Tearju flashed on the screen. Sven and Train were now on their way home and had stopped by a motel, to get some refreshments. Their day had been a long and it was nearly four in the evening and Train was exhausted.

Sven picked up the phone calmly. "Yes, so how was it?"

"Everything's fine. Misao's doing well. There has been some progress in her recovery. I guess we need to keep her under observation for a couple of days or so. The tumor's been successfully removed." was the reply from the other side of the phone.

"And Eve, what about her condition?" Sven's voice sounded pensive, as he spoke. Train was quick to mark his words. "Princess? What about her? Is she alright?"

"Eve's fine. She's resting. She's done a wonderful job. We had some complications in between, to an extent that we thought we had lost them both; but now both of them are perfectly alright and doing fine." Tearju said, her voice sounding quite relieved.

There was a strange calm from the other side of the phone and then the call was cut abruptly. Tearju somehow felt that it was like the calm before the storm.

About an hour later, Train stormed in. "Tearju! Tearju! Where the hell are you?!" Sven followed him inside.

Tearju stood there quietly in front of them, her gaze fixed on the ground. "What were you thinking when you coaxed Princess into this stupid project of yours? Huh? And why the hell didn't you people care to talk to me about it? Oh, so now I'm nobody, is it? Here's Sven, who keeps on saying that I'm his partner, I'm his family, didn't even bother… Eve knew it all along isn't it? She could've at least…"

The look in Train's eyes was painful. Tearju was about to say something when Train shouted, "Enough! I don't want any of your explanations. As it is you never cared for her. All you wanted was your research to be successful…"

"Shut up! Train! That's enough!" Eve cried. "It was me who didn't want you to know about any of this. Neither Sven nor Tearju have anything to do with this." Eve was resting, but all the commotion outside barred her from it. Train looked at her with eyes full of anger and anguish and stormed out of the house. Sven wanted to stop him, but Eve asked Sven to let it be.

"I think we should leave him alone for now. His anger needs to cool down." Eve said concernedly.

They had a quiet dinner, Train was not back yet. Eve skipped dinner and lay on her bed quietly, lost in thoughts. She was upset with her own behavior. Train was only concerned about her. He didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. How could she get her point through to him? She needed to talk to him about it and apologize to him too.

There was a knock on the door. Eve didn't answer, only turned on her back. The door opened and Sven walked in.

"Here, Eve, have some bread and soup. You cannot sleep hungry like that. I know you're tired from today's events, but that's all the more reason that you should eat. You're a growing kid after all."

"I'm not a kid, anymore Sven. I'm seventeen years, six months and 12 days old."

"See, I knew you weren't sleeping!" Sven tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Now get up and have something."

"I'm not hungry."

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, her stomach growled loudly.

Sven laughed, "Well your stomach says a different story!" He paused as he kept the tray of food by her bedside, and then continued, "I know you're worried about Train, Eve. But he'll be alright. He's just shocked that we never told him about any of this. He's hurt and I'm sure you're smart enough to be successfully talking this out with him and you'll apologize to him, for your behavior. I'm sure he'll come round. Now get up and eat something."

After much cajoling by the father, the daughter finally agreed to eat. And the two shared a quiet father-daughter moment together.

After about half an hour since Sven left her room, Eve got up and went out to check whether Train had returned or not. She went up on the rooftop, thinking that if she found Train there she'd apologize to him; if not she'd spend the night with the stars waiting for him. The night air was chilly and even her wind-cheater couldn't keep her warm enough.

Train on other the hand lay quietly, staring at the stars, thinking nothing in particular. Soon he heard footsteps. He quickly turned on his side so that now his back faced his visitor.

Eve quietly walked over to him and stood right near his head. "Train…" she called out softly. Soon she sat down at the exact spot and looked at Train waiting for any kind of response from his side.

"Train I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way. I just didn't want you to worry about me unnecessarily. I apologize, Train. I only wanted to save Misao's life. I wanted to do something good with these machines inside of me Train. I only wanted to be a part of something good. I wanted these hands to be used for something other than killing or bounty hunting…"

She paused for a moment and then continued, "I remember what happened at the Eden incident four years ago and I didn't want history to repeat itself again. I didn't want to hurt you once more, but look at me, I did it again, this time I inflicted the wound differently. I'm sorry Train."

Her face bent down slightly with guilt as she covered it with her hands.

Train felt a warm drop of water on his left cheek, then another, then another…

"Princess!"

He sat up and pulled her in his embrace. She snuggled up to him and with her head against his chest, she silently shed her tears.

"I'm sorry Princess. I shouldn't have shouted on Tearju like that. I understand what you're trying to say, Princess; but I could never forgive myself or Sven or Tearju if something happened to you today. It's okay Princess. I'm happy that you're safe. I'm sorry again."

They snuggled to each other and a comfortable silence prevailed between them.

Eve suddenly spoke, "You know Train, that one time when I faltered today, and I heard you call out to me. You were there to save me once again; to stand by my side once again."

… to be continued.


	16. Chapter 15 A Father's Concern

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. **

Summary: It has been four years since Train Heartnet left the Vollifieds. Oh yes, Eve was officially adopted by Sven as his daughter. She's in eleventh grade now next year she'd be graduating from high school. She's seventeen, Sven thirty-four and Train well, I'm guessing his age to be 27. Please Review.

**Chapter 15: A Father's Concern**

The next day when they finally returned home, it was noon already. Sven went out for some grocery shopping; while Eve and Train stayed back. Train was lazing on the couch while Eve was sitting at the window, reading a book.

Train suddenly opened one of his eyes to take a glance at Eve. Her eyes were fixed on the pages of her book. She was quite absorbed in it, it seemed. The afternoon warm winter sun came in through the window, adding to the lazy atmosphere. Train let out a yawn and slowly got up and walked towards Eve. He nearly glided over to her, for his footsteps hardly made any sound. Slowly and stealthily, walked up right behind her and grabbed her with his arms. Eve startled. "What's been happening to your sharp reflexes, Princess?" he smirked, "Yesterday morning too you didn't know that I was right behind you, you startled at that time too. What are you thinking so much about?"

"Nothing…"

Train nagged on, "Come on, Princess. What is it that's been bothering you so much?"

"Nothing really, Train."

"I see, so you don't want me to know. I get it that you've been keeping a lot of things from me nowadays. Well fine then…" He put on an offended look and was walking away.

"Wait…" Eve said as she grabbed him by his arm. "That's not what I meant, Train." She let out a sigh and said, "I knew you were sneaking up on me now and at that time too I knew it was you. The only reason I let my guard down was because it was you who was there behind me."

"What if I tried to harm you, Princess? What if I tried to kill you?"

Eve smiled at him. The look in her eyes gave him his answer. Her eyes were filled with affection and faith in him; she trusted her even more than she did herself.

"Do you trust **me** that much, Princess?" he put emphasis on the word 'me'.

"Oh no, wait I guess his name was Shin…" Eve looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression and then let out a stifled laughter.

"Why you…"

They both burst out laughing, with Train pulling her in a hug. They were enjoying this quiet moment on this lovely winter afternoon, really absorbed in each other's presence, when suddenly the door banged open.

Sven was standing at the door.

"Uh-oh…" Train let out. He had definitely seen them like that, wrapped around each other's arms.

He slowly walked inside, quite normally put down the groceries at the table while the other two kept their eyes fixed on him.

Sven then turned around to face them.

"What? Why are you both looking at me like that?" He asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Nothing, nothing…" Train said with a goofy gin as he rubbed the back of his head. Eve only stared at the ground. Sven walked towards them and stood beside Train.

Sven raised his left arm behind Train's head as his hand formed a fist. A smile appeared on his face as he looked at Train; soon he hurled his fist towards Train's head.

"Owww…! What did you do that for?" Train cried.

Sven looked angry and gritted his teeth as he said, "That's what you get for stealing my daughter from me!"

Both Train and Eve looked at him in surprise and then looked at each other. Eve returned to staring at the ground, while Train looked at Sven and gulped.

"You—you knew?"

Sven looked at him and smirked, "What'd you think I'm doing at the steering wheel? Driving like all's hunky-dory when you're drooling over my daughter, staring at her reflection on the rear-view mirror?"

Train gasped, while Eve's embarrassment knew no bounds.

"But I must say Train, that time when you left four years ago, you asked me not to be too overprotective of Eve, but here it seems I should've first protected her from you! Working your way right under my nose!" Sven laughed.

He then went over and hugged Eve, "Eve, I'm happy for you." Eve looked at him in surprise. "It'd be better to give your hand in Train's hand rather than to some stranger whom I didn't know… I've faith, that after me, he's the only one who cares for you the most! He's proved himself time and again. I was quite apprehensive at first, you know, a father's concern!"

He then turned towards Train and said, "Don't you dare to hurt her, or I'll personally make sure that you don't get through with it…"

Train looked serious, "You don't have to… because I'll never give you an opportunity!"

Sven chuckled, "Come here partner!" He said as he extended his arms to give Train a bear hug.

... to be continued.


	17. Chapter 16 The Fire Breather's Visit!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Catriel was created out of my genuine imagination!**

Summary: Six months after Misao's treatment, Eve's life with Sven, Train and well…you'll get to know soon. Please Review.

**Chapter 16: A Familiar Face: The Fire Breather's Visit!**

It'd been a busy week for Eve; her end-of-term exams were on, and Sweeping business was booming, with new groups of criminals prowling around.

Eve felt a sharp pain on her left calf, a bullet wound, grazing her skin was bleeding profusely. She however overlooked it and lunged forward to dodge the next blow inflicted on her. She winced a few times for the lunge put pressure on the open wound and it bled even more.

Her opponent was Catriel, a trained martial artist, who was equally adept with the gun. This man was even faster than her, or probably it was she who had slowed down; for she couldn't dodge the bullet properly or harden her skin to steel when it was about to hit her and as a result it grazed past, her missing calf bone by a few inches, leaving that deep wound behind.

Eve fired three rounds but none of them could do some sustaining damage. Train arrived soon after; he stood between Eve and the bounty. Hades glistened in the sun; "Quite a fancy gun you've got there… Oh so it's _**the**_ Black Cat! Finally a worthy opponent." mocked Catriel.

Eve flinched a little, both because of her wound and those words. The past few months flashed past her eyes. She'd been falling behind Train and Sven, unable to keep up with them, no matter how hard she tried.

"Are you okay?" Train asked, keeping his gaze fixed on the opponent all the while. His voice was cold and distant.

Eve noticed that warm 'Princess' was missing. She had grown quite used to this distant attitude from Train now. She felt that warm smile he used to give her disappeared and the one he put on nowadays was evidently false; it lacked any kind of emotion. He had been like this for the past couple of months. She simply couldn't fathom what'd been going on in his mind.

The sudden firing of bullets brought her back to reality. Train fought with Catriel, when suddenly a bullet went past him missing him by a few inches. Eve dodged it but soon lost balance and tripped and was about to hit head hard. Someone caught her at the right time. Eve glanced to her right to see Train standing there near Catriel. Then who was this savior who held her?

"Need some help?" a woman's voice.

Eve looked up to see a woman in her mid-twenties, her dark black hair ran to her shoulders, as her violet eyes glistened.

"Kyoko-san?" Eve asked.

Kyoko smirked and said, "Oh so you've recognized me! You're still the same stubborn kid from my teenage years."

"My! My! Kuro-sama you're in trouble I see. Don't worry when Kyoko's here! I'll protect **my** Kuro-sama with my life!" She glanced at Eve as she spoke.

Train acknowledged Kyoko with a nod, much to Eve's surprise. Eve dragged herself to a corner. Charden was there too; he helped Eve move to safety.

Eve didn't know what happened next for she lost consciousness with the excessive bleeding from her leg. She opened her eyes once when she felt that she was being carried by someone.

When she finally came to her senses, she was in her room. Kyoko was sitting at her bedside; she smiled at her and Sven was standing near her head looking at her with an expression of mixed feelings of concern and relief. She also caught a glimpse of Train standing at the door with his back reclining against the door. His arms crossed around his chest and his eyes were closed.

"W-what happened?" Eve let out faintly.

"You passed out by the time we finished off with that weird guy. Kuro-sama had to carry you all the way home." Kyoko said, not too happy with the fact. Eve glanced back at Train; he quickly walked out of the room. Eve's heart saddened, her face however did not give out anything.

"I was so worried, Eve… What happened at there? I thought you would take care of yourself!" Sven cried voicing his concern.

"I don't know… It seems I can't remember anything too well…" Eve said.

"Don't be so hard on yourself next time Eve. You rest for now, we'll leave you alone." Sven said.

They left soon after and Eve was left all alone. She felt totally blank from inside. She didn't know how to feel, or what to feel at that moment; feel insecure that she was falling behind all of them or feel heartbroken that probably Train wanted to get over her. She struggled with her emotions. _I've never been good with emotions, but does that mean that I don't have the right to feel anything? Or experience all these feelings? All I ever felt was pain, and suffering and that is what I also make others feel. Every time I want to think that I'm also a human being, something or the other brings me back to reality… I'm nothing but a vessel made of flesh and blood to keep these Nano-machines under control… That's the reason for my existence… That's the reason I was created… Suffer slowly, is this the way it's got to be?_

She didn't know when, but she felt warm tears trickle down her cheeks. She hadn't realized that she was crying till she felt those teardrops on her skin.

The next morning at the breakfast table, Eve managed to walk with Kyoko's help to sit together with their guests. Train was happily chugging down his bottle of milk. A sad smile appeared on Eve's face, she had missed this Train for long. Train looked at her and returned a small smile. Eve's eyes widened with surprise as she felt a feeling of relief taking over her. This would be his first genuine smile in three months and it made her feel better even though it lasted for a while. Eve however did not raise her hopes too high and quietly had her breakfast.

"Well today's lunch will be in honor of Kyoko and Charden's engagement that's coming in three weeks." Sven cried from the kitchen counter.

"YEAH!" Kyoko cried.

Eve nearly choked with the food in her mouth, "Here drink some water." Charden said sympathetically. Train scoffed a little and looked at Charden with feelings of pity. Eve gazed at Train as he looked away.

In the afternoon Sven was busy preparing lunch, meanwhile Train and Charden had gone around the town, this being Charden's first visit. Kyoko wanted to tag along with Kuro-sama too, but Charden asked her to stay back with Eve and give her company.

Kyoko was with Eve in her room, and she was trying to start a conversation with Eve.

"So I heard that Kuro-sama confessed to you?" Kyoko asked, with a disappointed look on her face.

Eve looked at her in surprise, as the memory of that pleasant sunny afternoon flashed before her.

"_Her face always bears this stoic and unreadable expression, but I can read her eyes… She speaks in a weird monotone, but her smile can even brighten up the day… and her pleasing scent, like that of a mix of sweet lavender and green apple… I can recognize her scent anywhere. The most adorable thing is that when she blushes and then denies it completely saying something as 'It's just the sun', but then again she doesn't know that my ears have already picked up her fast heart beats… She's a Princess; __**my**__ Princess."_

_Was it just a dream?_ She thought. She nodded giving a 'yes' in reply.

"Seems like Rinslet Walker told me the truth. I thought she was probably joking, you know fixing everyone's match, now that she's happily married to Jenos." Kyoko said.

Charden and Train walked through the city streets, when Charden stopped at one of the shops. He picked up a metal neckpiece for Kyoko. Train teased, "Looks like someone's knee-deep in love."

Charden was embarrassed at first but then added quickly, "And who's the one talking? Who carried the girl in his arms all the way to her home? And who'd die if something would have happened to Eve yesterday?"

Train impulsively grabbed his collar and cried, "Don't even say things like that!" He let go as soon as he realized that people were staring at him. "I'm sorry…" he said quietly.

They moved on as Charden quickly took the gift for Kyoko. They walked quietly for a while when Charden broke the silence, "Rinslet said you confessed to Eve some months ago. But it doesn't seem like it. I've seen your attitude towards her; you're too distant and cold. If this is so evident to me, I wonder how Eve's been feeling."

Train kept on walking silently.

Charden continued, "Did you actually confess to her? There's no doubt that you care for her, but do you _**love**_ her?"

Train looked at him in surprise.

"I don't know."

"What'd you mean you don't know?" Charden countered.

"After that incident I don't know whether I should keep on loving her…" Train's voice trailed off. Charden gave him a puzzled look. Train continued, "There are days every now and again I pretend that I'm okay, hurting her like this, watching her walk away, sad and heartbroken. But it'd be even harder to deal with the pain of losing her. That's why even though I know I can never stop loving her; I cannot let her know my true feelings."

"What happened?" Charden asked.

"It was just like every other bounty hunting day. As usual I was goofing around in the car with Sven at the driver's seat…" Train's voice trailed off to that fateful day that changed everything.

"No, I cannot let Princess get harmed because of me." Train said with determination as he finished accounting the incident. Charden knew, no matter how much it hurt him; Train was ready to sacrifice his love for Eve's safety.

"But Train, she's trained. She can take care of herself. She's Eve remember? She's chosen this to be her path. She's chosen to be a Sweeper herself. Sven wanted to give her a normal life, but she chose to take this path, instead, didn't she? No matter how much you try to protect her, Train, she'll make her own enemies as she matures in this sweeping business. What'll you do then? Will you blame yourself, that it's all your fault? She knows what she's doing Train, she can fend for herself."

"But didn't you see what happened yesterday? She's been like that ever since that accident. She seems to be making mistakes at the most basic things…" Train paused.

"And do you think she doesn't realize that? Do you think she's just ignored it? The frustrated look in her eyes; her insecurities were seeping her way through those eyes. Did you notice that, Train?" Charden said sympathetically." There are two kinds of people in this world, Train; one who become more determined and strong to succeed every time they fail or are looked down upon and neglected. The other kind well, behaves like Eve's been doing. They give in to their failures, to the fact that they're being ignored and gradually get so sucked in their insecurities that they can never rise to their former glory again." He continued, "All she needs is your encouragement, Train. You need to acknowledge her Train, that's it. She needs your support. People have made her feel worthless and unwanted enough in the past, don't you think?"

"I want to tell her how much it hurt me to treat her like that, but I know it's for her own good. I want to stop her every time she's walking away from me. I want to pull her closer to me every time she's silently looking at me from a distance. But…"

"I'm sure everything's going to be alright with time, Train. Let's go home, now." Charden said.

"I can't believe you read so much into Eve, Charden… Guess Kyoko made a good choice after all…" Train chuckled.

… To be continued.

A/N: Charden does not quite seem like himself, I know. But I needed someone to show the right path to Train! I hope all those who are Charden's fans will be considerate of this deliberate change… Other than that, I hope you'll like it.


	18. Chapter 17 Catching Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Eerwig and his men were created out of my genuine imagination!**

Summary: Six months after Misao's treatment, Eve's life with Sven, Train and well…you'll get to know soon. Please Review.

**Chapter 17: Catching Up**

"WHAT! It's been almost a year since you confessed and you haven't kissed yet?!" Kyoko cried.

Eve was embarrassed and hurt at the same time. How could they, when Train didn't even want to talk to her properly; when he was constantly trying to distance himself from her?

"Is he even serious about you?" Kyoko voiced the question that she had been suppressing in her heart for the past few months. Eve stared at the ground, totally lost.

That night Eve couldn't sleep properly, because of the pain in her leg as well as in her heart. She slowly managed to walk to her door to get to the living room. She looked at the clock; it was 3am in the morning. As she opened the door, she found a note lying at her door.

_Stay in your room after breakfast. We need to talk. _

_-Train_

Eve looked at the note and read it over and over again. Did she read it right? When she finally realized that she was not seeing things nor was she dreaming, she slowly went back to her bed, eagerly waiting for everyone to wake up. Gradually she went into a daze as she saw the incident that changed everything resurface before her eyes.

"_Let me go…" She cried. "You'll regret what you're doing! Once I break off this container no one can save you!"_

"_Let us see you try!" they mocked. "What do you think girl? That we'd come unprepared? We know you're no ordinary girl and we're no ordinary kidnappers!"_

_Eve couldn't see where they were actually, the place seemed to be some underground laboratory, dimly lit, chemicals, computers and live samples of animals and humans surrounded her. Her capsule was at the center. Wires and tubes rose from her tank and led to the ones surrounding her._

"_We need to use that Nano- technology of yours to experiment on these patients. They know they're eventually going to die anyways, so they volunteered for the research and in return were handsomely paid by the boss." One of them said._

_Eve felt that slowly she was getting benumbed with every minute passing by. The same kind of feeling she had during Misao's treatment except that this time she felt her Nano- machines take over her even faster._

"_Dr. Lunatique's research file gave us many insights as to the potential of the nanotechnology inside you." The man paused, "And look here's she herself!" Eve managed to keep her eyes open, when she saw a beaten up and bruised Dr. Tearju being dragged over. "Eve!" she cried, "Are you okay? Don't listen to them, Eve; you cannot let yourself lose control over those Nano-machines, Eve! Stop yourself, Eve!"_

"_Tearju…" she could only say._

"_Start the machines." The man ordered, "We need to get through with this. This needs to be a successful research. We have to launch the product this year! Keep that in mind and get to work!" _

"_Mr. Eerwig, we've started the machines. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results!"_

_A man in his early thirties walked in, he was a large, tall and swarthy man, with an amputated arm._

"_Ah! Dr. Lunatique, there you are! What a pretty face, I must say! A magnificent creation you have here! Truly, a masterpiece! Now your Nano- technology is going to help me rake in some good cash, and also regain the lost fame of Eerwig Research Laboratories." He said contemptuously._

_ looked at him with disgust and eyes full of scorn. "Let me and Eve, go! She can't help you!"_

"_Why such hatred, Dr. Lunatique? After all this is for mankind's sake! You wouldn't mind paying such a small price of sacrificing your clone, oh I'm sorry, your 'daughter' for humanity's sake, would you?"_

_Suddenly gunshots filled the air. Train and Sven broke in._

"_So you've come Black Cat! Finally I can take my revenge for my dead father and my brother, whom you killed mercilessly ten years ago. All this while, I've wanted to get my hands on you. But then I changed my mind to get at you in some other way. I'll make sure that you get to experience someone close die right in front of your eyes! You'll pay for what you did that night." Eerwig paused for a moment; he'd been shaking with anger and hatred as the picture of his blood- covered father and brother flashed before his eyes. _

_He slowly got a grip over himself and said with an evil grin, "You'll watch your love suffer right in front of your eyes. Eventually she'll die! But be glad that she'll be a part of something great in her last moments!"_

_His loud maniacal laughter echoed from the walls. Train flinched a little; Eve opened her eyes once, then she lost all consciousness as she felt herself getting sucked in, deeper and deeper…_

The alarm by her bedside went off leaving a startled Eve wide awake, realizing that she'd fallen into a daze. She saw she was clasping a paper in her hand, Train's note. _So it wasn't a dream, Train really wants to talk to me. _She thought.

Eve had her breakfast in her room and patiently waited for Train to come. She was sitting on a chair by the window side overlooking the street in front of their house.

She watched Kyoko and Charden leave; they were going out for shopping, and visiting friends that they needed to invite for their engagement party. Kyoko was giggling and prancing happily; Charden however remained composed but the happiness and contentment was evident on his face as Kyoko locked her arms with his and they went away.

Eve smiled as she watched them disappear round the corner. She heard a knock on her door. She knew who it was. Exhaling a big sigh, she said softly, "Come in."

The door opened and Train walked in. Eve took a good glimpse of him; this was the first time that he had walked inside her room in the past three months. The last time he was here was when they returned home barely managing to save their lives from that underground laboratory.

After that Train gradually grew aloof and indifferent towards her. She didn't know whether it was something she had said or done that hurt him. She wanted to talk to him about it, but he always avoided being alone with her; so she never had a chance to speak to him. She was slowly losing hope with her spirits down in the dumps.

She patiently waited for him to speak, but neither said anything. They spent quite a long time staring at each other in awkward silence. Finally, Train gave in, letting out a big sigh and said, "Your performance has gone down to an all-time low. You're hurting yourself and giving the enemy enough time to recover. You've slowed down a lot and your aim's been faltering." Eve looked at him blankly, _so that's what he wanted to talk about._ Eve flinched inside, though her face remained as stoic as ever, she had prepared herself for this and was expecting to hear this sooner or later, but somehow his words still hit her hard. She nodded silently and said nothing. Her heart however was twisting her on the inside, and she decided to speak, "I know that I've been unable to keep up with you two…"

Train cut in, "And what do you plan to do about it? Quit?" his voice was harsh. Eve only looked at him. Train continued, "We'll start over your training from tomorrow morning, make sure to take care of that wound so that you recover fast. And one more thing, I'm not going to go easy on you. We start with aiming at targets, tomorrow sharp at six."

Train left soon after, as he closed the door behind him, Eve smiled, "Thank you Train, for helping me out again. I was waiting for a hint like this from your side. It's okay, if you just want to be friends… For the past few months I had even lost my best friend in you other than my lover…" A teardrop fell down as she stared out of her window.

Day 1:

The next morning she felt a lot better, Kyoko helped her walk to the targets, that Train had set up in the backyard.

Train cried, "We'll begin with firing four rounds of long-range shots and then another four rounds range of short-range shots. Kyoko will be helping you today to move around, she'll be your partner. Now let's start."

Eve transformed her hand into a gun and fired, two hit the target, while two didn't.

Progress Check: 40 percent.

She stood there for a while, waiting for Train to say something. Kyoko smiled at her and Charden raised a thumb wishing her luck. Train cried, "Come on, we don't have all day!"

Eve moved forward and positioned herself for short-range shooting. She knew she had to do better in this for short-range shots were her forte. This time her hand movements were agile and Train saw a flicker of that same old determination and confidence that he had seen, almost a year ago on the night he watched her train. Progress Check: 50 percent.

Suddenly Sven came out shouting, "What are you doing, Eve? Your leg's badly hurt!" Eve turned to him with a smile and said, "I'm fine, Sven and besides Kyoko-san's been taking care of me and helping me to walk. I like it here!"

Sven stopped himself from speaking any further for he had seen happiness in his daughter's eyes after a long time. He was quite upset too with her deteriorating performance. Sven smiled back and said, "Okay! But be careful!"

Train cried to Eve, "This is a training ground, Miss. Not an amusement park! Now come on get your feet moving!"

Sven glared at him for talking to Eve like that, meanwhile Train returned a look that said, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Day 2:

"Come on, Eve. Get your feet moving. Sneak-attacks are meant to be done quietly and swiftly. You cannot let the enemy know of your presence." Train cried.

Eve was happy, that he had finally called out her name. She had made a good progress from last day's results. She was still having some difficulty in moving around with her wounded leg, but it was better than before. She managed to sneak-attack on Kyoko who defended herself with her fire breath.

Progress Check: 55 percent.

Day 5:

Her wound had almost healed now. She could walk briskly and even run at a slow pace. Today was a test of her transformations. This time her opponent was Charden. She transformed her skin to steel when Charden fired; her speed was slowly getting back to its original level. She was definitely more agile and strong than she'd been for these few months. She suffered energy drains in the middle of her training, but she managed to pull it through quite well.

Progress Check: 70 percent.

Day 10:

Kyoko and Charden would be leaving today. They were going to Creed's place and stay there till their engagement came off. Eve was really grateful, "Thank you Kyoko-san for helping me out. I really appreciate it. You and Charden-san helped me a lot. I hope you have a happy life together."

Kyoko said, "Well you should thank Kuro-sama. After all, he's been going through with this, starting from the start just for your sake! And take care of him and yourself too. Oh and one more thing, promise me that you'll make sure to confirm his feelings before you attend our engagement."

Eve smiled and said, "I'll try, I promise."

Meanwhile Train and Charden had a conversation elsewhere. Train said, "You were right. I have seen Eve regaining her lost confidence and she's made a good progress too."

"It's great that you gave a thought about it and decided to take action. Now please also try to resolve your feelings for her and let her know what's actually in your heart." Charden pleaded.

"I don't know how much I can do about that…Eerwig wanted to get back at me by hurting her! But you know this is really crippling my heart and stifling me from inside."

"That's what I'm trying to say… Instead of hurting yourself like that, express your true feelings and let go of those useless emotional baggage that are becoming a burden on you. Listen Train; in the past too Eve has fallen prey to these kinds of situations. Every time you've been able to protect her, fate has always wanted her to be saved by you and no one can change that. No matter how many times she was in trouble you were there to rescue her. So what happened now?"

"That's the reason, Charden. I cannot take her life for granted. It's not necessary that I'll be able to protect her every time. What if something went wrong and I lost her? I could never forgive myself!"

"But that's life, my friend! You, of all people should know that! Life's all about heading for the unknown; you never know what's going to happen next. If you did then you'd never get the feeling of fulfillment, of accomplishing anything! That'd be like locking up yourself in your house forever, for fear of being run over, if you stepped out!"

Progress Check: 85 percent

Day 14:

Train was very strict with Eve now that Kyoko and Charden were not there. His memory constantly recalled that midnight duel, when Eve and he dueled together with Eve offering stiff competition to his every move.

This day was supposed to be the final day of their training period. Then Eve would be made to face real bounty and that would be no training. Eve was already feeling like her old self; strong, determined and poised.

Eve would be taking on Train in various areas: shooting, agility, tact, sneak-attacks and one-on-one combat. Train purposefully wanted their face-off to come about at night so that Eve could relive that experience and heal her mental scars.

Eve said to herself, "I know I've been totally useless and nothing but a burden; but I promise I'll be catching up with you two… I already feel it, Train, like the old me… I hope I can show you that I've overcome those obstacles, those insecurities in my mind. I wish to do well today. And I'm relieved Train that you're acting like you did before, even though it's a momentary flicker in your eyes, but I know, along with my performance, something else has also improved; our relationship."

At seven in the evening, Train asked Eve to get ready, for they'd be leaving soon.

"Where are we going?" Eve asked in her monotone.

"Training grounds; a friend helped me set it up especially for us." He replied as he turned to leave.

Their first face-off would be at the shooting range. Moving targets, going in different directions, at different speeds, were to be hit from various long and short range points.

With that over, next was a test of their speed. They would be ambushed from different directions and traps were set up amidst the trees and bushes. Eve managed to dodge all the targets, but the place she was hiding now, had a bomb planted a few feet away from her. She knew about the traps and closed her eyes trying to locate the bombs. She could sense three near her. She could even feel where Train was, but the place he was seemed to be more concentrated with vegetation and it'd be difficult for him to locate all the bombs.

Train muttered, "Shoot! I chose the wrong place to hide. But I had no choice, this is for the Princess; she needs my help and I need her to recover, to see that old Princess again…"

Soon he felt his surroundings changing; he remembered that night when they that midnight duel. It was her; there was no doubt about it. The entire training ground now was a different picture; an open empty ground and Train could see Eve standing in the distance.

"What are you doing?" He cried. "You cannot do it like that!" he said as he rushed towards her.

Eve prepared herself for a lecture. Eve spoke with confidence, "I was just using my abilities to my advantage. I played it fair; you cannot blame me if I have an upper hand here. I just manipulated the ground to my advantage. This is one of my special abilities…" She stopped as Train stared at her. Eve couldn't understand what he was feeling at that moment, was he angry? Was he frustrated? Was he happy?

The next was close combat. Eve's mind was busy with the strategy she'd use against him. She had to finish her job without getting too close or letting him to sneak up right behind her like he always did.

As they began fighting, Eve felt the same connection between them; she could read his every move, and he could read hers.

Both of them were enjoying each other's company like this after such a long time. So even though they were fighting, both had a warm and comfortable feeling in each other's presence. They were slowly so into it that they forgot the tension that had been brewing between them for the past few months.

Eve dodged a burst bullet from Train, but Train's feet were nimble as usual and he snuck up on her. She tried to move backwards, not realizing Train was right behind her and tripped. He caught her quickly and as they looked at each other, they broke into a loud laughter.

"That was great, Princ-"he stopped short. His smile disappeared as he quickly let go of her and walked away, "We're done with training. Tomorrow you'll be accompanying us on the next bounty."

Eve watched him disappear in the distance as she stood there quietly.

Progress Check: 99 percent.

… To be continued.


	19. Chapter 18 Rainbow after the rain

Author's note: Like every other thing this story has also come to its end. This is the last chapter of this story. My heartfelt thanks to all those who have liked "The Feeling Called Love", thank you all for all those reviews. I have always believed in happy endings; life's too realistic for happy endings and I believe the only place we can have it our way is fiction. You're free to be a deadly assassin, a person who can see the future, or a wily thief. You can make animals talk, or be the guardian of dead souls… I believe that a piece of fiction should always end on a positive note; it's not necessary that all the worst of events take a good turn suddenly, but it should leave the readers with a hope that there might be a scope for the things to get better. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Black Cat anime or manga; they belong to their respective owners. Though Ellene Kudo and Zine are mine and mine only!**

Summary: The Last Chapter.

**Chapter 18: Rainbow after the rain**

The next morning, Eve set out for school early; her results were going to get out today. Her end-of-terms didn't go too well, especially because of those hindering preoccupation of her mind with stuff that was gradually destroying her on the inside.

When she reached school, Ellene and Zine welcomed her with warm smiles.

"So Vollified, think you'll top this year again?" Zine asked. Eve remained quiet. Ellene cut in, "Stop bothering her like that! Can't you see she's tensed already?" Then she turned to Eve and said, "Don't worry Eve, I'm sure you'll do great." She then dragged Eve away from Zine and the others and whispered, "So? Was there any improvement? Did he talk to you?"

Eve remained quiet and only stared at the ground.

"Why don't you talk to him about it? It'd do you good if you opened your mouth and spoke your heart out. Make him know what's been going on inside your head and also get to know his thoughts… Eve, are you listening?"

Eve only nodded.

The phone rang in the living room. Sven cried, "Train! Take the call, will you? I'm busy in the kitchen!" The phone kept on ringing, Sven cried out for Train once more, then walked towards the living room as he wiped his hands in his apron to take the call.

"Hello?" Sven said, "Oh it's you Kyoko! Yeah Eve's gone to school to get her end-of-term results. Who, Train? Well he's in his room, I think. You want us to get there a day before your engagement? Let's see whether we can get there tomorrow. I'll try to make sure we make it on time. Yeah, don't worry about it. Okay, bye!"

Eve passed her end-of-terms with straight A's. When she came home in the afternoon she found a note left by Sven.

_We're leaving for Creed's house tomorrow morning. Kyoko wants us to be there a day before her engagement. Get your things packed and it'd be a great help if you could do the same for the house._

_-Sven._

It was a hot afternoon and Eve was sweating alright; she looked around the house, everything seemed to be neat and tidy but she always liked to double-check. She quickly put down her satchel, took off her socks, untied her tie and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. She tied up her hair into a loose bun and set to work.

She needed to finish packing soon because she also wanted to make something beautiful and creative for Kyoko and Charden in return of all their help, wishing them a happy life ahead.

She quickly made her way to the kitchen, separated the open and used cartons of food stuff and milk from the sealed ones. She quickly, took a large container, poured in some water and froze it to -196 degrees and kept the open food cartons inside, covering the container. Then she took the container and put it in the refrigerator.

It was nearly six in the evening when she finished up with the house. Her own personal packing was also almost done. She stood at the center of the living room, looking around, quite happy with her work. She stretched, letting out a small yawn and her hands reached up to her hair to undo the bun, when she heard the front door click.

Train walked in. Eve's hair cascaded down like a golden waterfall. Train stood there for a moment, staring at her, her appearance was laid back with half her shirt dangling out instead of being properly tucked in. The rolled up sleeves showed that she'd been busy working.

Train quickly looked away when he realized that Eve was also staring at him. He walked over to the couch and lay down, yawning loudly.

Eve only stared at him.

"…_It'd do you good if you opened your mouth and spoke your heart out. Make him know what's been going on inside your head and also get to know his thoughts…"_

"Where's Sven?" She asked apprehensively.

"Out to pick a gift for Kyoko and Charden." Train said.

"Do you want something? You look tired, are you hungry?" She asked feeling courageous suddenly.

Silence.

"I'll make something for you if you want?" She sounded unsure.

Still no answer.

"Would some noodles do? Or do you want chilled milk? Today's been a hot day…" her voice sounded more like a plea.

"Hmm."

Finally a reply.

"Okay then I'll get you your milk, is that alright? Need anything more?" She asked.

Train turned on his side, to show that he was actually sleeping.

_I need to talk, need to keep on talking…_ Eve kept on saying to herself.

"So Train how was your day? I'm sorry I couldn't go with you two today." She said, eagerly waiting for some kind of response from him.

_It's no use… He has nothing left to give… This is the end of it. I should've let him go long back…It seems I'll end where I began, is this the way it's going to be for me?_ She was about to break down. _No, I'll try one last time. I'll fight for one last time; I'll fight until the end._

"What's the matter with you Train?" her voice not pleading this time but demanding an answer.

"What's happened to you? You're no more the Train Heartnet I knew… Tell me Train, why are you acting this way? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something to hurt you? I apologize to you Train; I'm sorry Train if I've hurt you in any way. Please talk to me Train; I won't know what I did if you don't speak? What have you been thinking all this while Train? You can speak to me you know, if something's bothering you…" Eve spoke determinedly.

Train remained as impassive as ever. His heart however was starting a turbulent storm of emotions inside.

"I know this didn't work for you, Train but we can still be friends right? It's okay if you don't feel the same way… I know something's getting in the way, Train. And we cannot fix it unless you speak to me." she paused to stifle the tears that were threatening to break out any moment.

She continued, "We were best friends even before all this happened isn't it?"

Train only tightened his fist as his knuckles turned white. He still lay there quietly.

"…_You're talking about not wanting to take her life for granted Train; but what you're eventually doing in the process is taking her love for granted. She loves you Train, trusts you even more than she does herself. Be careful Train, you might end up losing her anyways, the way you're keeping up. Then you'll regret what you did."_

"_But Charden…"_

He recalled a telephone conversation that he had in the morning.

"I'm sorry Train… I'm sorry for having coaxed you into this. I'm sorry for talking you into this mess called love, when you felt nothing at all… I know you care, but…" Her voice quivered.

Train couldn't hold himself back any longer. He felt he needed to let go of his emotions or he would die of a heart attack.

"… _Instead of hurting yourself like that, express your true feelings and let go of those useless emotional baggage that are becoming a burden on you…"_

"…_Tell her; tell her about your true feelings. Tell her why you were acting that way. Tell her how much you love her…"_

Train got up from the couch and saw Eve's face was bent down slightly, she was crying silently.

Train walked up to her and grabbed her by her shoulders. Eve looked at him, startled.

"Foolish girl…" he muttered.

Soon Eve was pinned against the wall by Train.

The clock struck seven.

The front door clicked and Sven walked in, "I'm home."

Train walked back to the couch lazily, yawning and rubbing the back of his head. He soon fell asleep like nothing happened.

Eve still stood there against the wall. _What just happened?_ She thought.

Sven looked at both of them totally clueless, and finally spoke, "Eve could you get me a glass of chilled water. It's too hot outside. And what's with your face, it looks all red." He said as he stretched and relaxed on the chair. She added softly, "Nothing."

Eve slowly walked over to the kitchen, her movement unsteady as if walking in a daze. She slowly raised her hand so that her fingers were now touching her lips, _Did he..?_

Early next morning they set out for Creed's place. Neither of them spoke much, except for Sven's occasional rebukes reserved for Train. However Eve caught Train many a times stealing a glance of her face in the rear-view mirror.

'"So you've both passed with flying colors." Kyoko exclaimed. After lunch, the ladies were having a small gossip session.

Eve simply stared at her blankly. "See, I've made love report cards for you two…" Kyoko was busy demonstrating the grading system, which of their aspects was considered. Echidna and Eve could only sweat drop at her antics. They spent the rest of the evening finishing their last minute shopping. The men on the other hand walked into a nearby pub.

Each of them had downed three shots of vodka, Train however managed to gulp down only one; he was missing his favorite milk. The ambience was particularly suitable for the so-called 'guy-talks'. Soft music and drunken ramblings of the bar's regulars seemed like the perfect retreat before Charden was to be imprisoned forever with something as so small as a ring.

"Finally you did the right thing. As a man it's your duty to keep your woman happy…" Charden said. Three shots were already showing their effect.

Train chuckled, "Enjoy your last night of freedom, Charden, because with Kyoko I can already imagine your life ahead. A frustrated father with five kids to look after, doing all the house-chores, shopping for groceries, cooking. Imagine you wearing a pink apron…"

"What's wrong with a pink apron?" Sven growled as they gulped down another shot of vodka. Train however was sipping in a chocolate milk smoothie.

"Be careful Romeo, the father of your Juliet is sitting right beside you!" Creed warned Train.

Kyoko and Eve were busy selecting clothes and stuff for Kyoko's wedding trousseau, on Kyoko's insistence that they start shopping for the wedding right from now. Echidna on the other hand was busy doing some last minute jewelry shopping.

"Kyoko said you kissed her—" Charden said.

"WHAT?!" Sven cried. He got up from his seat intending to hit Train, as Creed tried to hold him down.

"Just look at you Charden, how sick your condition is. You're yet to get engaged and you're already like 'Kyoko said this' and 'Kyoko said that'", Train glared at Charden. Then he turned to Sven, who was fuming with anger and said, "And for your information, Sven-daddy that's what couples do. What are you going to do when we think of marriage and all the other 'advanced' stages?"

"What kind of term is that? 'Advanced stages'? That's the best you could do? Seriously Train, how old are you? One? Grow up!" a familiar voice cried from behind.

"Who asked you anyways? Mr. Jenos Rinslet Walker?" Train added nonchalantly. The rest of them turned back to find Jenos Hazard standing behind them.

Sven asked, "How'd you know we're here?"

"Rins and I went to Creed's place but the butler said you all were out so I called up Creed on his phone; he said you were here." Jenos added.

Rinslet followed in soon after. Train cried, "Oh Rins, long time no see!"

Rinslet smiled, "Guess you still can't live without your milk… You're the only person who'd drink a milk smoothie sitting in a pub!"

Train smiled goofily as he rubbed the back of his head and added, "I have my ways… And besides who's going to take care of the brawls and troubles that these old drunkards make?"

"Who are you calling old?!" all four of them shouted unanimously.

"Where are the girls? Where's Eve, Train? I want to see her how she's grown." Rinslet asked.

"Oh she's grown up beautifully…" Train stopped short when his eyes suddenly fell on Sven's angry expression. Rinslet noticed it too and quickly added, "Well that's good to hear…"

Creed said, "They're at the shopping mall. You should join them there."

As she was about to leave the pub and close the door behind her Sven caught up with her handed her a package and said something. He then returned back to his seat.

Kyoko spotted a beautiful evening gown which she desperately wanted for Eve to wear it on their engagement. The dress was a beautiful shade of beige with a shimmery girding around the waist. Eve was a little hesitant on trying it on.

"It's beautiful Kyoko-san, there's no doubt about it, but I can't…" Eve stopped short, she felt a little uncomfortable in admitting that the dress was too expensive.

"Go ahead Eve," a familiar voice said. Eve turned around to look who it was.

"Here, Sven sent some extra money in case you needed something to pick." Rinslet Walker said.

"Rinslet… How'd you know we're here?" Eve asked surprised.

"Well, Kyoko asked us to get here a day before; but due to some urgent work we couldn't get here in the morning. When we reached Creed's mansion nobody was home, the butler said you all were out shopping. Jenos then called up Creed and he said you all were here; they're sitting in a pub now, getting drunk."

After about a couple of hours they were ready to go home.

"Hey Train, aren't you coming with us?" Jenos cried.

"You all go ahead. Don't worry, I'll be right on time for dinner." He said as he disappeared into the distance.

After dinner Eve presented Kyoko with a collage that she made staying up late last night. The collage had the photos of their younger days, their happy memories together; their long shopping sessions. They relived those memories, talking and laughing about what happened when. Echidna felt a bit left out but Kyoko and Eve made sure to make her feel comfortable in their discussions. Rinslet was planning a make-over session for Echidna. Kyoko soon joined her in this noble undertaking.

Eve however fell asleep soon after. She was fatigued from the four-hour journey that they made to get to Creed's place; then their gossip sessions in the noon, though she didn't speak much, but sometimes even good listeners get tired because of all the conversations going on around them; then the shopping spree that they went on in the evening had left her completely exhausted.

The next evening, Kyoko and Charden exchanged rings amidst loud applauses of the guests and loud cheers of Jenos and Train.

Eve was wearing the dress Kyoko chose for her. Rinslet exclaimed, "Oh my! You look like a lady already Eve. Beautiful." Then she added with false tears, (sob) "My little Eve has grown up!"

Eve countered, "Shut up, Rinslet! I'm not a kid anymore! I'm eighteen years, one month and ten days old!"

Quickly they all broke into a loud laughter.

Soon everyone was on the dance-floor, slow-dancing to the soft music playing on.

Train held out his hand towards Eve, "May I have this dance?"

Eve looked at him and smiled. Soon they were dancing as if they were the only two people on this earth, completely unaware of anyone else's presence. Train slowly leant in as they continued to dance and whispered in her ears, "Princess…"

His voice snapped Eve to reality.

"Princess I want to talk to you about something. It's important." He whispered, "We'll slowly get out of here, I don't want anyone else near us while we talk."

As they danced, it seemed they were just gliding on the floor, as if their feet barely touched the ground. Soon they were out of everyone's sight and Train pulled her along.

Finally they stopped at a place where it seemed like the porch overlooking the garden; it was a full moon night and the bright moonlight fell directly on them.

"What is it Train? What did you want to talk about so urgently?" Eve asked apprehensively.

"I don't know how to put it, Princess..." he paused, sighed and then continued, "That wound you sustained back then and all those other wounds that I inflicted on your heart. Those fights you lost, those bounties you failed to defeat, I know it's my entire fault. I was stupid enough to leave you alone like that for all those months. All your fears and apprehensions are just the result of that Eerwig incident. After what he did to you and what you saw you were bound to be afraid and I did nothing to help you overcome your fears. Instead I pushed you far away thinking that I could protect you like that. My enemies would target you to get their revenge on me, just to hurt me and watch me suffer in pain."

He paused again and as he started to speak again, his voice choked, "I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to you, Princess; that's what I thought. But in the process of protecting you from harm, I ended up hurting you even more and made myself go through that immense mental pressure."

Train stopped and then walked over to her and hugged her tight, "I'm sorry Princess, but I promise I won't let you down, Princess. I'm sorry for ignoring you like that, for acting so cold towards you…I promise to be by your side through thick and thin."

Eve gently leant behind and let go of all her worries. She just didn't ruin the moment by talking. But she needed to let Train know how grateful she was, how much it relieved her that Train reciprocated.

"Thank you Train. I'll cherish this moment forever… You've given me the life that I longed for, thank you—"

She suddenly felt Train's hands giving her a gentle push.

As she let go, Train sat down on his right knee and took out a ring from his pocket.

"Will you marry me Princess?"

Eve smiled and said, "Yes."


End file.
